Division  IDS  )  0  7 

Section  .  3.M42 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
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https://archive.org/details/throughlandofpro00matt_0 


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DR.  P.  A.  MATTSON 


Through 

The  Land  of  Promise 


Reminiscences  of  A  Journey  in  Bible  Lands 

y  By 

Rev.  P.  A.  Mattson,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 


Boston 

The  Stratford  Company,  Publishers 


1920 


Copyright  1920 

The  STRATFORD  CO.,  Publishers 
Boston,  Mass. 


The  Alpine  Press,  Boston,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A 


Preface 


When  leaving  this  book  to  the  public,  I  am  not  doing  it 
without  a  certain  hesitation,  as  I  am  well  acquainted  with  its 
deficiencies.  In  these  critical  times  it  is  rather  risky  to  send 
out  a  book,  but  I  trust  that  the  reader  will  have  forbearance 
with  it,  and  remember  that  it  is  intended  to  be  a  travelogue. 

During  my  journeys  in  the  Orient  on  the  trains  and  on 
horseback  I  have  made  my  annotations  of  the  impressions  of  the 
various  places,  and  during  the  past  years  I  have  arranged  them 
in  their  present  form.  The  limited  time  at  my  disposal  in  writing 
;  this  book  will  in  some  measure  atone  for  its  defects. 

Some  might  say  that  we  have  too  many  works  on  travels  in 
the  Bible  Lands,  and  I  grant  that  there  are  a  quite  a  number 
already,  but  it  is  a  fact  that  the  more  works  on  travel  we  read, 
the  more  we  learn  to  know  the  countries  through  which  the  tour¬ 
ists  have  gone,  and  we  find  that  one  has  observed  something  that 
another  has  entirely  passed  by.  The  author  of  this  book  has 
endeavored  to  localize  the  holy  places  as  much  as  possible,  and 
this  may  be  the  characteristic  feature  of  this  work.  From  this 
point  of  view  it  may  not  have  been  written  in  vain. 

As  this  work  is  going  out  into  the  world,  we  trust  that  it 
may  in  its  humble  way  lead  the  reader  into  the  great  subjects 
which  the  blessed  Book  unfolds  to  us.  To  be  able  to  understand 
the  Bible  properly,  we  must  also  know  something  of  the  coun¬ 
tries,  their  customs  and  manners,  where  the  various  books  of  the 
Bible  were  written,  and  if  the  author  has  in  some  way  been  able 
to  create  an  interest  for  these  great  subjects  which  the  Scriptures 
open  up  for  us,  these  lines  will  have  served  their  purpose. 

THE  AUTHOR. 

Cannon  Falls,  Minn.,  September  28th,  1919. 


“Jerusalem,  my  happy  home, 

Name  ever  dear  to  me ! 

When  shall  my  labors  have  an  end 
In  joy,  and  peace,  with  thee? 

When  shall  these  eyes  thy  heaven-built  walls 
And  pearly  gates  behold? 

Thy  bulwarks  with  salvation  strong, 

And  streets  of  shining  gold?” 


\ 


Contents 


CHAPTER 

PAGE 

I. 

Departure  from  home  and  the  journey  to 

Europe  ...... 

• 

1 

II. 

Here  and  there  in  Sweden,  Norway 

and 

Denmark  ...... 

19 

III. 

In  Germany — The  Lutherplaces 

46 

IV. 

To  Constantinople  and  What  I  Saw  There 

68 

V. 

From  Constantinople  to  Athens 

94 

VI. 

In  Athens  and  Corinth  .... 

105 

VII. 

In  Smyrna  and  Ephesus  .... 

118 

VIII. 

From  Smyrna  to  Beirut  .... 

129 

IX. 

From  Beirut  to  Damascus 

150 

X. 

Through  Bashan  to  Haifa 

185 

XI. 

Over  the  Plain  of  Sharon  to  Jaffa  . 

215 

XII. 

To  the  Holy  City  ..... 

225 

XIII. 

In  the  Holy  City  ..... 

232 

XIV. 

Journeys  in  Samaria  .... 

288 

XV. 

From  Jenin  to  Tiberias  .... 

318 

XVI. 

At  the  Sea  of  Galilee  .... 

345 

XVII. 

In  Northern  Galilee  .... 

365 

XVIII. 

Excursions  to  Mizpa,  Emmaus,  Gibeon 

and 

Rama  ...... 

383 

XIX. 

Journeys  in  Philistia  .... 

389 

XX. 

To  Bethlehem  and  Hebron 

405 

XXI. 

Excursions  to  Jericho,  the  Dead  Sea 

and 

Jordan  ...... 

• 

421 

XXII. 

From  Jerusalem  to  Port  Said  . 

• 

434 

CONTENTS 


XXIII. 

From  Port  Said  to  Suez  . 

•  • 

.  437 

XXIV. 

Through  Goshen  to  Cairo 

•  • 

.  442 

XXV. 

Cairo,  Heliopolis  and  the  Pyramids 

.  445 

XXVI. 

Sakkara  and  Memphis  . 

•  • 

.  467 

XXVII. 

From  Cairo  via  Alexandria  to  Naples 

.  473 

XXVIII. 

Pompeii  and  Puteoli 

•  . 

.  485 

XXIX. 

In  the  Eternal  City — Rome 

.  490 

XXX. 

In  Northern  Italy  . 

#  . 

.  498 

XXXI. 

Over  the  Alps  to  Paris  . 

•  • 

.  503 

XXXII. 

The  Journey  Homeward 

•  • 

.  507 

Chapter  1 


DEPARTURE  FROM  HOME  AND  THE 
JOURNEY  TO  EUROPE 

“Canaan,  bright  Canaan, 

The  glorious  land  of  Canaan; 

Our  Canaan  is  a  happy  place, 

Come,  let  us  go  to  Canaan 

THROUGH  the  Bible  countries!  What  a  thought  for  a  Bible 
student !  Who  has  not  at  some  time  in  his  life  entertained 
the  thought  of  making  such  a  journey !  I,  too,  am  one  of  those 
who  from  his  early  childhood  had  entertained  the  idea  of  travel¬ 
ing  in  the  Bible  lands,  and  when  everything  was  ready  for  my 
departure,  I  could  hardly  realize  that  it  was  true  and  that  I 
was  going. 

The  Bible  countries  have  had,  and  will  continue  to  have, 
their  peculiar  significance  for  those  who  have  learned  to  love  and 
appreciate  the  treasures,  which  God  in  His  infinite  love  has 
given  us  in  His  word.  Anyone  born  and  bred  within  the  folds 
of  the  Christian  church,  has  had  an  opportunity  to  become  fa¬ 
miliar  with  that  matchless  story  of  the  Bible  characters,  who 
have  lived  and  labored,  struggled  and  died  in  the  Land  of 
Promise,  and  above  all  with  the  wonderful  story  of  Him,  who  left 
the  glory  of  His  Father,  came  down  to  this  sinful  and  corrupt 
world  to  give  Himself  a  ransom  for  the  sins  of  the  world  and  to 
show  us  a  new  and  living  way  to  eternal  bliss. 

Can  there  be  anyone  with  soul  so  dead,  who  has  not,  while 
reading  the  Holy  Writ,  at  some  time  or  another,  been  longing  to 
wander  along  the  pathways,  where  the  Godman  and  his  chosen 

[1] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


twelve  were  wandering?  Who  has  not  at  some  time  in  his  life 
longed  to  see  the  native  country  of  the  Master  and  to  meditate 
at  the  birthplace  of  the  Christian  religion? 

For  various  reasons  the  author  had  not  been  able  to  under¬ 
take  this  journey  until  quite  late;  but  “better  late  than  never” 
holds  good  in  this  case  also.  At  last  the  hindrances  were  removed 
and  I  prepared  for  my  departure. 

My  first  duty  was  to  secure  leave  of  absence  as  President  of 
Gustavus  Adolphus  College.  My  Conference  granted  me  a  six 
months’  leave  and  I  could  now  continue  my  preparations  for 
the  journey. 

As  I  had  to  travel  in  Turkish  countries,  it  was  necessary  to 
secure  a  passport  from  the  Secretary  of  State  at  Washing¬ 
ton,  D.  C. 

For  one  dollar  I  got  my  passport  from  Mr.  P.  G.  Knox.  On 
top  of  the  passport  is  the  American  Eagle.  Under  the  shadow 
of  its  protecting  wings  I  went  forth  into  the  world.  When  you 
have  the  protection  of  the  great,  and  respected  American  Eagle, 
you  feel  safe  to  travel  among  Turks  and  Arabs  and  other  half- 
civilized  nations. 

But,  my  dear  reader,  do  you  know  of  a  passport  that  gives 
greater  security  than  our  beloved  country,  the  United  States? 
Yes,  there  is  one!  You  have  an  old,  tried  and  true  book  in 
your  home.  It  is  the  Bible.  Do  you  know  the  value  of  the 
91st  Psalm  of  David  as  a  safe  guide  and  protection?  In  this 
psalm  we  read,  1  1  He  that  dwelleth  in  the  secret  place  of  the  most 
High,  shall  abide  under  the  shadow  of  the  Almighty.  I  will  say 
of  the  Lord :  He  is  my  refuge  and  my  fortress ;  my  God,  in  Him 
will  I  trust”  (Ps.  91:  1-2).  The  word  of  God  is  the  best  pass¬ 
port  ;  it  has  the  signature  of  Him,  who  has  all  power  in  heaven 
and  on  earth.  Without  such  a  passport  I  did  not  wish  to  travel 

[2] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


among  half-civilized  nations,  though  I  have  the  greatest  respect 
for  the  passport  of  my  country. 

There  were  two  reasons  why  I  wished  to  travel  at  this  time. 
Owing  to  strenuous  duties  at  the  institution,  my  health  was  not 
of  the  best  and  I  wished  to  recuperate.  This  was  the  first  cause 
of  my  travel.  In  the  second  place,  anyone  who  has  labored  con¬ 
tinually  for  twenty-five  years  without  any  recreation,  hails  with 
joy  a  period  of  rest. 

The  young  boy,  thrown  out  into  the  world  to  shift  for  him¬ 
self  on  the  stormy  ocean  of  humanity,  to  row  his  own  little  boat, 
loes  not  always  have  happy  and  cloudless  days.  If  he  deter- 
nines  to  secure  an  education  at  some  institution  of  learning  and 
las  no  one  to  depend  upon  but  himself,  he  will  have  to  fight  a 
*ood  fight  to  get  through.  A  lot  of  hard  work  is  ahead  of  him, 
)0  be  sure,  but  ‘  ‘  where  there  is  a  will,  there  is  a  way.  ’  ’ 

If  he  is  stationed  in  one  of  our  larger  cities,  after  having 
iompleted  his  college  and  seminary  courses,  he  will  have  to  strug¬ 
gle  to  keep  up.  But  if  the  office  of  the  ministry  is  not  the  easiest, 
he  duties  of  the  college  president  are  not  less  responsible  and 
xacting.  Before  I  began  my  work  at  the  college  as  president, 
n  old  professor  said  to  me,  “I  tell  you,  brother,  a  college  pres¬ 
idency  is  no  sinecure.”  I  have  already  found  out  that  there  is 
lot  of  truth  in  these  words.  The  college  president  in  these  days, 
/hen  so  many  duties  are  placed  upon  him,  has  a  strenuous  call¬ 
ing.  Recreation  will  be  very  welcome  for  such  a  man. 

With  a  United  States  passport  in  my  pocket,  a  letter  of 
ecommendation  from  the  Governor  of  Minnesota,  John  A.  John- 
Dn,  and  from  the  president  of  our  church,  I  gathered  my  things 
ogether  and  started  on  my  long  journey.  On  the  twenty-ninth  of 
lay,  a  clear  and  beautiful  morning,  I  left  the  home  on  College 
[ill  at  St.  Peter,  Minnesota,  with  my  family,  and  went  to  Hop- 
ins,  where  I  left  my  wife  and  children.  I  confided  myself  and 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


them  into  the  hands  of  the  loving  Father  in  heaven,  bade  them 
farewell  and  departed.  At  Minneapolis  I  secured  some  things  for 
my  journey,  and  in  the  evening  boarded  the  train  for  Chicago. 
Here  I  attended  divine  worship  in  the  Trinity  Lutheran  Church, 
and  the  next  morning  I  boarded  a  Baltimore  and  Ohio  limited  for 
Washington.  I  wished  to  see  the  capital  of  my  country,  and  for 
this  reason  I  went  to  New  York  via  Washington. 

Our  train  rushed  ahead  over  the  plains  of  Ohio  and  Indiana, 
and  then  across  the  picturesque  Alleghany  mountains.  The  fol¬ 
lowing  day  found  me  in  Washington.  I  wanted  to  see  the 
sights  and  my  first  object  was  Mt.  Vernon,  the  home  of  the 
Father  of  my  country.  There  we  observed  the  halls  and  the  bed¬ 
rooms,  the  kitchen  with  its  highly  interesting  fireplace  and  the 
old  cooking  utensils,  etc.  We  must  not  forget  the  little  building 
nearby,  where  Martha  Washington  worked  at  the  loom.  You  can 
see  the  loom  itself,  the  cloth  she  wove,  and  many  other  interest¬ 
ing  objects.  In  the  buildings  which  belong  to  the  Government 
there  are  many  antiquities  of  great  value.  From  these  you  can 
get  an  insight  into  colonial  life  and  customs.  A  visit  to  this 
highly  interesting  place  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac  is  inspiring. 
It  was  very  strange  to  stand  at  the  grave  of  the  Father  of  his 
country.  I  felt  as  though  his  mighty  and  protecting  spirit  was 
hovering  over  the  vicinity.  We  thank  God  for  such  great  men, 
gigantic  characters  in  history,  who  have  left  marked  footprints 
on  the  sands  of  time. 

In  the  late  afternoon  I  returned  to  the  capital.  The  follow¬ 
ing  morning  I  went  to  the  Turkish  minister  to  secure  his  signa¬ 
ture  to  my  passport.  The  Secretary  of  State  had  informed  me 
that  this  could  be  done  in  Washington.  The  Turkish  minister 
refused,  however,  to  do  this  and  referred  me  to  the  Turkish  Con¬ 
sulate  at  New  York.  I  had  to  return  without  accomplishing  any¬ 
thing,  and  I  thought,  that  the  mighty  of  this  world  also  make 


[4] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


their  mistakes.  The  rest  of  the  day  was  spent  in  our  beautiful 
capital  city,  seeing  its  important  sights.  First  I  went  to  see  the 
Washington  monument.  It  is  located  in  a  beautiful  part  of  the 
city,  and  resembles  in  form  the  Egyptian  obelisks,  being  555 
feet  high.  You  can  reach  the  top  by  elevator  or  by  climbing  the 
winding  stairs.  I  took  the  elevator,  for  I  was  very  tired  and 
needed  rest.  From  the  top  of  this  monument  you  have  a  mag¬ 
nificent  view  over  the  city  of  Washington,  and  to  distances  far 
beyond.  Next  I  visited  the  White  House.  This  building  is  con¬ 
spicuous  because  of  its  beautiful  architecture,  and  its  location 
is  most  excellent.  During  the  day  I  passed  through  various  Gov¬ 
ernment  buildings,  such  as  the  Treasury,  the  War  and  Navy 
buildings,  the  Smithsonian  Institute,  and  last  the  Capitol  build¬ 
ing.  The  Senate  was  in  session  and  I  wished  to  hear  what  these 
men  had  to  say  about  questions  in  which  the  public  is  vitally 
interested.  Large  gatherings  of  people  filled  the  galleries.  Several 
of  the  Senators  partook  in  the  discussion,  while  I  was  there.  It 
was  interesting  to  listen  to  the  little  Senator  La  Follette  from 
Wisconsin  and  to  Senator  Nelson  from  Minnesota.  Senator 
Depew  also  spoke  a  little  while.  I  prophesied  and  my  prophecy 
came  true,  that  the  worthy  Senators  would  not  satisfy  the  public. 
How  strange,  that  the  servants  of  the  people  do  not  comply  with 
the  wishes  of  the  people !  Too  often  they  go  the  errands  of  the 
political  bosses,  and  the  capitalists  and  suit  themselves. 

I  went  to  the  railroad  station  to  meet  my  fellow-travelers. 
In  the  afternoon,  I  went  to  the  Hall  of  Statues,  in  the  Capitol 
Building.  It  was  very  interesting  to  see  the  statues  of  prominent 
sons  and  daughters  of  our  country.  It  was  a  matter  of  great 
interest  to  me  to  find  among  those  thirty-seven  statues,  one  who 
is  spoken  of  very  often,  the  Swede,  John  Hanson,  the  President 
of  the  first  Congress.  In  a  certain  sense,  he  is  really  the  first 
President  of  this  country.  I  felt  proud  of  the  fact,  that  a  de- 


[5] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


scendant  of  the  early  pioneers  from  Sweden,  had  been  able  to 
serve  his  country  to  such  an  extent. 

Early  the  next  morning  I  left  Washington  and  my  company 
to  go  to  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  I  wanted  to  see  the  sights 
at  these  cities  and  also  those  at  Norristown.  I  was  particularly 
interested  in  the  old  Swedish  churches  at  these  places,  those 
landmarks  of  bygone  days.  It  is  worth  while  to  see  them,  and 
be  reminded  of  the  chapter  these  people  have  written  in  the 
annals  of  our  country.  To  be  able  to  see  these  places  and  these 
churches,  I  had  to  catch  each  moment  on  the  wing  and  I  did  so. 
Having  arrived  at  Philadelphia,  I  went  at  once  to  Norristown, 
where  I  found  the  old  Swedish  church.  This  church  was  founded 
in  1760.  It  has  been  recently  restored  inside,  and  there  is  noth¬ 
ing  that  reminds  us  of  the  early  pioneers,  except  a  picture  of 
Rev.  Nicolas  Collin.  A  baptismal  font  stands  by  the  altar,  and 
this  is  a  gift  from  the  king  of  Sweden,  the  late  King  Oscar  II. 
He  gave  this  font  to  the  church,  while  he  was  crown  prince.  On 
the  baptismal  font  these  words  are  written,  ‘  ‘  Sweden ’s  blessings 
to  Sweden’s  children.” 

In  this  section  of  the  country  the  Swedes  settled,  built  homes 
for  themselves,  tried  to  educate  their  children,  so  that  they 
might  be  good  and  trusty  members  of  the  church  and  loyal  citi¬ 
zens,  and  outside  the  church,  in  the  cemetery,  they  found  their 
last  resting  places,  where  they  slumber  until  the  day  of  resurrec¬ 
tion.  The  old  Swedes  have  finished  their  course  and  gone.  Their 
children  have  taken  up  the  work  of  the  fathers,  but  they  belong 
no  more  to  the  church  of  their  fathers,  the  Lutheran,  but  to  the 
Episcopal  church. 

I  could  not  stay  here  very  long,  so  I  hastened  to  return  to 
Philadelphia,  that  I  might  have  an  opportunity  to  see  another 
one  of  the  early  monuments  of  our  pioneers,  the  Gloria  Dei 
church  of  that  city.  I  found  it  open.  I  went  in  to  see,  and 


[6] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


meditate.  This  building  is  erected  exactly  on  the  spot  where  the 
Swedes,  who  came  across  in  the  Kalmar  Key  and  Bird  Grip  in 
1638,  built  the  first  church  in  1639.  The  first  church  was  a  log 
structure.  It  was  very  strange,  indeed,  to  walk  about  in  this 
sanctuary,  and  call  to  mind  the  epochs  in  its  history.  Here  they 
used  to  worship,  and  now  their  dust  rests  under  the  monuments 
outside  of  the  church. 

On  the  north  side  of  the  altar,  we  find  the  following  inscrip¬ 
tion:  “This  tablet  is  erected  to  the  memory  of  Nicolas  Collin, 
D.  D.,  whose  remains  repose  beneath.  He  was  the  last  of  the 
long  line  of  missionaries,  sent  by  the  mother  church  of  Sweden, 
to  give  the  bread  of  life  to  her  hungering  children  on  this  distant 
shore.  He  became  pastor  of  this  church  and  of  King  Sessing  and 
Upper  Merion  churches  in  July,  1766.  He  died  October  7th, 
1831,  in  his  87th  year.”  Beside  this  stone  tablet,  which  is  placed 
in  the  wall,  is  another,  erected  by  pastor  Collin,  to  commemorate 
the  death  of  his  wife.  On  the  tablet  the  following  words  are  in¬ 
scribed,  and  they  bear  testimony  to  his  love  and  esteem  for  his 
spouse:  “Beneath  repose  the  earthly  remains  of  Hanna,  wife  of 
Nicolas  Collin,  Rector  of  the  Swedish  churches  in  Pennsylvania, 
departed  on  the  29th  of  September  1797,  aged  47  years  and  2 
months.  He  erected  this  monumental  record  of  her  piety,  kind¬ 
ness,  economy  and  neatness,  her  affection  to  him  in  many  trying 
scenes;  of  his  grief  which  shall  not  cease  until  they  meet  in  the 
land  of  the  living.  ’  ’ 

Above  the  aisle,  on  the  gallery  railing,  the  following  words 
are  inscribed,  “The  people  that  walked  in  darkness  have  seen  a 
great  light:  they  that  dwelt  in  the  land  of  the  shadow  of  death, 
upon  them  hath  the  light  shone.  ’  ’  A  little  to  the  side,  the  follow¬ 
ing  words  are  written,  “Glory  be  to  God  on  high.”  Having 
looked  around  for  some  time  in  the  church,  I  went  out  on  the 
cemetery  and  observed  the  inscriptions  on  the  tombstones, 


[7] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


and  then  I  went  to  the  railroad  station.  On  my  way  to  the  station, 
I  passed  by  the  Liberty  Hall,  that  great  landmark  in  the  history 
of  our  country.  Every  American  knows  by  heart,  or  ought  to 
know  that  it  was  in  this  Hall  that  the  Declaration  of  Independ¬ 
ence  was  adopted,  the  4th  of  July,  1776.  I  recalled  as  I  passed  by, 
that  it  was  John  Morton,  another  Swede,  who  put  his  decisive 
name  to  the  document.  A  name  was  lacking  and  Mr.  Morton  put 
his  name  on  it  and  then  it  passed.  In  doing  this,  he  offended  many 
who  were  royalists.  In  his  last  hours  he  sent  this  message  to  an  old 
friend :  ‘  ‘  Tell  them  that  they  will  live  to  see  the  day  when  they 
will  acknowledge,  that  my  signing  the  Declaration  of  Independ¬ 
ence  was  the  most  glorious  service  I  ever  rendered  my  country.  ’  ’ 
John  Morton  died  in  1777,  leaving  an  honored  name,  of  which 
we  are  all  proud.  In  this  connection,  it  might  be  well  to  remind 
ourselves  that  Sweden  was  the  first  power  in  Europe  that  volun¬ 
tarily  offered  its  friendship  to  the  United  States,  in  that  great 
struggle  for  independence. 

It  might  also  be  interesting  to  note  that  the  man  who  from 
the  tower  of  Liberty  Hall  rang  in  the  new  era  was  a  Swede.  His 
little  boy  cried  out  in  Swedish,  when  they  had  passed  the  Declara¬ 
tion  of  Independence,  “Ring,  papa,  ring,”  and  the  bell  rang 
out  Liberty  to  all  the  land  and  all  the  inhabitants  thereof. 

At  last  it  was  time  for  me  to  board  the  train  for  New  York. 
Now  I  was  on  the  way  to  the  largest  city  in  the  world.  My  inten¬ 
tion  was  to  look  over  this  city  very  carefully,  but  rain  and  gloomy 
weather  set  in,  and  my  plans  could  not  be  carried  out. 

My  time  was  very  limited.  The  5th  of  June  our  boat, 
“California”  was  to  leave  for  Europe.  But  let  us,  nevertheless, 
note  a  few  things  about  our  large  cities.  It  is  quite  generally 
admitted,  that  the  emigration  of  our  people,  from  the  country 
to  our  large  cities  is  one  of  the  most  serious  problems  before  our 
nation  at  the  present  time.  The  prosaic  life  in  the  country  does 

[8] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


not  seem  to  appeal  to  the  rising  generation.  Our  larger  cities 
have  grown  very  fast.  As  late  as  1850  one-eighth  of  the  popula¬ 
tion  of  the  land  lived  in  cities.  Now  it  has  grown  to  one-fourth. 

Mr.  Wendell  Phillips  said  at  one  time,  that  our  larger 
cities  will  give  occasion  for  greater  misery,  than  did  slavery. 
Perhaps  the  prophecy  of  this  clear  sighted  man  will  be  fulfilled ! 
The  tendency,  at  present,  is  towards  the  city,  but  the  strong 
influx  to  the  cities  is  nothing  new.  We  remember  that  Virgil, 
the  Roman  poet,  when  Rome  was  overpopulated,  said:  “The 
plow  is  no  more  held  in  honor,  the  farmer  is  carried  away,  and 
the  field  is  covered  with  weeds.  ’  ’  When  such  times  come  —  and 
they  are  coming,  for  history  is  constantly  repeating  itself  —  then 
the  nation  will  stand  near  the  brink  of  destruction. 

But  we  must  now  continue.  The  5th  of  June  we  gathered 
at  the  dock,  where  “  California  ”  was  ready  to  start.  What 
consolation  to  have  the  privilege  to  confide  in  the  living  God  at 
all  times,  and  especially,  when  we  shall  sail  out  on  the  treacher¬ 
ous  ocean !  What  a  rest  to  sit  under  the  shadow  of  the  Most 
High!  Our  boat  has  9,000  tons’  displacement,  is  515  feet  long, 
and  was  built  only  a  few  years  ago.  At  10 :15  A.  M.  the  anchor  is 
lifted,  our  boat  turns,  and  steams  out  on  the  Hudson  River.  On 
the  shore  is  a  great  throng  of  people.  All  are  waving  farewell.  I 
know  only  a  few  in  that  great  mass.  It  is  an  exciting  moment, 
when  one  bids  farewell  to  his  country,  even  if  it  is  only  for  a 
short  time.  I  felt  then,  as  I  have  always  felt,  that  America  is  my 
country.  I  have  no  other.  Slowly  our  boat  glides  down  the  Hud¬ 
son  River  towards  the  sea,  passing  by  Ellis  island,  the  Statue  of 
Liberty  and  Sandy  Hook.  It  was  not  long  before  we  saw  the 
last  glimpse  of  land.  When  others  took  off  their  hats  to  bid  fare¬ 
well,  I  took  off  mine,  and  with  a  prayer  in  my  heart,  I  bade 
farewell  to  my  country,  my  church,  and  all  that  is  dear  to  the 
human  heart,  praying  that  God  would  protect  them,  my  family, 

[9] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


and  the  institution  where  the  church  had  placed  me.  It  did  not 
take  very  long  before  the  ‘ ‘California”  commenced  to  roll  among 
the  waves,  and  as  a  consequence  thereof,  many  faces  became  pale 
and  a  good  many  went  down  into  their  cabins.  Others  were  de¬ 
termined  to  remain  on  deck  and  I  saw  several  times,  how  some 
manifested  a  surprising  generosity  at  the  railing.  Most  of  the 
passengers  kept  up  their  courage  all  day,  and  were  at  their 
places  at  meals. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday,  and  a  stormy  day  it  was.  Very 
few  appeared  at  the  tables  and  we  could  hold  no  services.  The 
7th  of  June  came  with  beautiful  weather,  and  the  passengers 
were  in  a  happy  mood.  The  following  day  we  were  at  New¬ 
foundland  banks,  and  for  some  days  we  had  excellent  weather 
and  all  went  well.  An  ocean  steamer  is  a  little  world  in  itself. 
Here  you  find  representatives  of  all  kinds  of  people.  On  our 
boat  there  were  seven  ministers  and  we  held  religious  services 
every  evening.  What  a  quieting  power  the  word  of  God  has 
everywhere,  and  especially  on  the  stormy  ocean ! 

Having  been  on  the  Atlantic  about  a  week,  we  see  the  first 
glimpses  of  land  about  10  o’clock  in  the  morning.  It  is  the 
mountain  tops  of  the  northern  part  of  Ireland.  At  three  o’clock 
P.  M.  we  are  anchored  at  Moville,  and  a  number  of  passengers 
land  at  this  place.  Then  our  boat  sets  out  for  Scotland,  and 
we  land  in  Firth  of  Clyde  the  next  morning,  and  at  Green¬ 
wich  on  June  14th.  A  few  hours  later  we  land  at  Glascow,  and 
the  same  morning,  we  continue  our  journey  to  Edinburgh,  the 
beautiful  capital  city  of  Scotland. 

Our  company  went  to  hotel  Waverley,  and  there  we  found 
a  hearty  welcome.  In  the  afternoon  we  went  out  with  a  guide 
to  see  the  city.  We  must  see  Holyrood  Castle,  of  course.  Here 
the  rulers  of  Scotland  used  to  live.  This  magnificent  building 
is  now  used  as  a  sort  of  museum,  and  is  open  to  the  public. 


[10] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Here,  in  this  castle,  Queen  Marj^  used  to  live.  The  history 
of  Queen  Mary  is  a  sad  one.  Having  passed  through  many 
vicissitudes,  she  sought  refuge  at  the  court  of  Queen  Elizabeth 
of  England.  Here  she  was  taken  captive,  held  in  prison  for 
eighteen  years,  and  then  executed. 

From  this  castle  we  went  to  the  house  where  John  Knox 
used  to  live.  This  house  is  in  fairly  good  condition  and  is  now 
used  as  a  museum.  Not  far  from  this  house  is  the  Parliament 
building. 

In  front  of  the  Parliament  building  is  a  statue  of  King 
Charles  II.  He  is  represented  as  sitting  on  a  horse,  and  there 
is  a  little  face  behind  his  head.  He  is  known  as  the  “two-faced 
king.”  Alas,  that  there  are  found  so  many  of  this  class  at  the 
present  time !  From  this  place  we  went  to  the  Castle  of  Edin¬ 
burgh,  which  is  located  in  the  middle  of  the  city.  From  this 
height  there  is  a  splendid  view  over  the  whole  vicinity.  Among 
other  things,  we  saw  here  a  cemetery  for  dogs.  At  the  graves, 
tombstones  are  placed,  stating  the  names  and  the  merits  of  the 
various  dogs  while  they  were  living.  Strange  sight  indeed ! 

A  little  distance  from  this  church  we  saw  the  home  of  Sir 
Walter  Scott,  and  near  by,  a  statue  of  Thomas  Chalmers.  His 
name  is  inscribed  on  the  monument,  and  the  dates  1780-1847. 
The  statue  represents  him  standing  with  the  Bible  in  his  hand. 
His  work  did  not  pass  away  with  the  spring  breezes,  but  re¬ 
mains  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen.  The  city  has  an  ideal 
location  by  the  Firth  of  Forth,  and  a  colossal  bridge  is  built  over 
the  bay.  It  is  one  of  the  largest  bridges  in  the  world. 

The  15th  of  June  we  went  to  London.  The  country  through 
which  we  passed,  was  very  beautiful  and  well  kept,  looking  like 
a  garden.  Along  the  road  we  pass  castles,  villas,  farms  and 
well  kept  parks.  Every  square  foot  seems  to  be  utilized  in  some 
way. 


[11] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


At  six  o’clock  in  the  evening,  onr  train  rushed,  into  Easton, 
in  the  great  metropolis.  We  had  some  difficulty  in  finding  a 
place,  because  all  the  hotels  were  overcrowded.  At  last  we  found 
a  splendid  place  on  Bedford  street,  near  the  station. 

Our  time  was  very  limited,  even  here,  and  we  had  to  rush 
ahead.  We  went  to  St.  Paul’s  cathedral.  This  is  a  very  large 
building  and  is  located  in  the  middle  of  the  city.  The  style  is 
not  so  easy  as  that  of  the  other  cathedrals  on  the  continent.  It 
is  sooty  on  the  outside,  and  dark  within.  Some  one  has  happily 
defined  dirt  as  ‘  ‘  matter  out  of  place  ’  ’  and  this  definition  is  quite 
correct.  The  Englishmen  thought  so  too,  as  they  were  cleaning 
their  cathedral  on  the  outside  at  the  time  we  were  there. 

We  were  in  the  cathedral  several  times  and  beheld  the  vari¬ 
ous  choirs,  altars,  statues,  sarcophagi  and  the  numerous  inscrip¬ 
tions  on  the  walls  and  statues.  Great  men  and  women  slumber 
here  their  last  sleep  till  the  last  trumpet  shall  call  them  to  rise. 
Here  are  the  earthly  remains  of  poets,  warriors,  scientists,  the¬ 
ologians,  philanthropists  and  architects.  On  the  monuments  of 
these  dead  we  read  in  short  sentences  what  they  have  done  in 
life.  Sometimes  a  few  words  will  tell  a  long  story.  But  the 
tourist  must  not  forget  the  crypt  or  the  basement  —  sit  venia 
verbo.  We  went  down  into  this  crypt,  and  truly  there  are  many 
things  of  interest  to  be  seen.  In  this  crypt  sleeps  the  architect 
of  this  building,  Christoffer  Wren.  On  the  wall  above  his  tomb 
these  words  are  inscribed  in  Latin,  “Lector,  si  monumentum 
requiris,  circumspice !  ”  (Reader,  if  you  seek  the  monument, 
look  around!).  This  building  is  surely  a  worthy  monument  to 
his  memory.  Here  in  this  crypt  many  illustrious  sons  of  Eng¬ 
land  have  found  a  last  restingplace.  It  is  really  a  “kingdom  of 
the  dead.”  Going  up  in  the  cathedral  proper,  we  see  many 
names,  noted  in  history,  and  among  them  I  wish  to  mention 
General  Gordon.  On  his  monument  the  following  words  are 

[12] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


written,  “Major  General  Charles  H.  Gordon,  who  at  all  times 
and  everywhere  gave  his  strength  to  the  weak,  his  substance  to 
the  poor,  and  his  heart  to  God.  ’  ’  He  died  in  the  battle  at  Khar¬ 
tum,  Africa,  Jan.  26,  1885.  The  memory  of  the  righteous  will 
remain.  We  bring  nothing  with  us  into  this  life  and  shall  take 
nothing  out  of  it,  save  our  own  souls.  Some  time  ago  a  cer¬ 
tain  man,  walking  on  the  streets  of  New  York  and  meeting  an¬ 
other,  was  informed,  that  a  certain  man  in  the  city  had  died. 
He  was  asked  the  question,  “How  much  did  he  leave?”  The 
answer  was,  “Everything.”  That  is  right.  When  we  die,  we 
leave  everything  behind  us  and  take  with  us  our  conscience, 
either  a  good  or  a  bad  one. 

As  I  was  walking  among  these  monuments,  I  thought,  “0 
that  these  graves  could  speak !  ”  If  the  departed  dead  could 
bring  us  a  message  from  the  great  beyond,  what  a  message  would 
they  not  bring ! 

Let  us  now  go  to  the  tower.  This  historic  building  is  located 
near  the  Thames,  not  far  from  London  bridge.  It  is  a  union  of 
several  buildings.  The  Tower  was  founded  in  1078,  by  William 
the  Conqueror,  and  his  purpose  in  doing  so  was  to  give  protec¬ 
tion  to  the  city.  In  the  course  of  time  this  building  has  served 
as  a  fort,  palace,  and  prison.  At  present  it  is  used  as  a  garrison 
for  soldiers,  and  also  as  a  kind  of  museum.  Inside  the  first  walls 
there  are  open  places  and  on  these  the  soldiers  were  marching 
around.  Think  of  the  history  of  the  Tower  of  London !  Let  us 
remind  ourselves  of  a  few  things  that  have  happened  here. 
Within  these  gloomy  walls  many  a  prisoner  has  been  held,  while 
he  was  awaiting  the  time  of  his  execution  or  the  day  of  his  liberty. 
One  cell,  particularly,  made  a  deep  impression  on  me.  It  is 
in  the  form  of  a  chapel  and  called  St.  Peter  ad  Vincula.  There 
are  many  graves  at  the  altar.  Here  we  see  the  graves  of  the 
Dukes  of  Somerset  and  Northumberland.  They  are  buried  be- 

[13] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


tween  the  graves  of  Queens  Ann  Boleyn  and  Catherine  Howard. 
These  four  persons  were  executed  during  the  bloody  regime  of 
Henry  VIII.  In  front  of  the  chapel  is  an  open  place,  called 
‘  ‘  Tower  Green,  ’  ’  and  was  used  in  ancient  times  as  a  burial  place. 
In  the  middle  of  the  open  space  is  a  piece  of  marble  and  this  is 
surrounded  by  an  iron  chain.  This  marble  slab  and  iron  chain 
were  placed  there  by  the  late  Queen  Victoria,  and  indicate  the 
place  where  the  scaffold  used  to  stand.  The  history  of  England 
is  very  bloody  and  many  of  the  kings  have  ruled  with  an  iron 
sceptre.  A  certain  prisoner  had  written,  “More  suffering  for 
Christ’s  sake  in  this  world,  more  glory  for  him  in  the  next.” 
Think  of  the  time  when  the  deeds  of  the  world  shall  be  made 
known  before  the  whole  world ! 

Let  us  go  into  the  “Tower”  proper.  What  a  variety  of 
relics  are  stored  up  here !  Here  you  see  blocks,  where  many  a 
one  had  been  compelled  to  bow  down  and  meet  death,  the  axes, 
used  in  such  executions,  racks,  used  in  torturing  people  and  what 
not !  Here  we  find  all  kinds  of  garments  used  during  the  Middle 
Ages  and  weapons  of  warfare,  garments  used  at  the  coronation 
of  the  Kings  of  England.  Think  of  the  history  of  such  things 
that  are  gathered  together  here ! 

From  the  “Tower”  we  went  to  see  the  Picture  Gallery. 
Here  we  saw  paintings  from  the  second  and  the  third  centuries. 
Among  these  pictures  I  saw  one,  representing  a  young  man 
dreaming  about  pleasure  and  duty.  He  is  in  the  act  of  choosing 
between  the  two,  but  the  painting  does  not  indicate  which  one. 
Perhaps  pleasure  ;  if  he  did,  it  would  not  be  surprising.  In  one 
of  the  rooms  we  saw  a  painting  that  cost  $125,000  and  another 
one  $250,000.  This  painting  was  small  and  every  square  inch 
costs  920  dollars.  This  painting  is  supposed  to  be  the  most  costly 
in  the  world.  But  there  are  too  many  things  to  be  seen  here 
and  wo  shall  have  to  go  on.  We  saw  the  Buckingham  Palace, 

[14] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Kensington  Parkway,  and  returning  we  passed  through  the  beau¬ 
tiful  residential  district  of  the  city.  We  also  saw  the  Museum 
of  Natural  History  and  the  British  Museum.  We  must  not  for¬ 
get  to  mention  that  we  saw  “Dickens’  Curiosity  Shop,”  an  old 
and  rickety  building.  But  there  is  one  thing  more,  which  I 
nust  mention  and  that  is  the  cemetery  of  the  dogs  in  Hyde  Park. 
3ver  the  graves  of  the  dogs  there  are  monuments,  and  on  the 
nonuments  there  are  inscriptions  like  the  following,  “To  dear 
ittle  Josie,  in  loving  gratitude  for  her  sweet  affection,  until  we 
neet  again,  April  3,  1887,  Nov.  24,  1899 — Faithful  unto  death”. 
)ur  guide  informed  us,  that  at  such  dog-funerals  the  dogs  are 
ed  in  procession  to  the  grave,  and  in  front  of  the  procession 
he  dead  dog  is  brought  to  the  grave  in  a  carriage.  Sometimes 
he  dogs  fight  and  there  is  a  fearful  noise  among  the  canines. 
It  one  such  funeral  not  less  than  ninety  bull  dogs  partook  in  the 
•rocession.  Now  what  shall  we  say  of  such  insane  foolishness 
h  the  midst  of  the  enlightened  British  nation?  But  we  find 
his  senselessness  also  in  America,  although  not  on  such  a  large 
cale.  Here  in  America,  for  example,  there  are  women  who 
re  not  willing,  under  any  circumstances,  to  become  mothers, 
ut  whom  you  see  in  public  places  carrying  their  poodle  dogs ; 
nd  if  the  newspapers  give  us  the  correct  information,  we  have 
omen  who  are  spending  thousands  of  dollars  in  making  birth- 
ay  parties  for  their  poodle  dogs  and  even  for  pigs.  If  Cicero 
ere  living  at  the  present  time,  he  would  have  occasion  to  cry 
it,  as  he  did  in  the  days  of  his  greatness,  “Shame  on  such  an 
ge  and  its  principles!” 

It  would  be  very  interesting  to  relate  some  of  the  things 
hich  we  saw  in  the  British  Museum.  I  was  intensely  delighted 
i  see  the  Codex  Alexandrinus,  which  dates  from  the  middle  of 
le  fifth  century.  We  must  not  forget  to  mention  the  Rosetta 
J;one,  which  was  discovered  in  Lower  Egypt  in  the  year  1798, 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


near  the  town  of  Rosetta.  The  inscription  on  the  stone  is  a 
decree  by  the  priests  at  Memphis,  —  according  to  which  decree 
divine  worship  shall  be  given  King  Ptolemseus  V  Epiphanus.  The 
stone  dates  from  the  year  195  B.  C.  In  the  year  1892  this  stone 
was  brought  to  the  British  Museum.  The  hieroglyphic  inscription 
comes  first,  then  the  Demotic,  used  by  the  priests,  and  meant 
for  the  common  people,  and  in  the  third  place  there  is  an  in¬ 
scription  in  Greek. 

This  stone  has  given  us  the  key  to  the  old  Egyptian  lan¬ 
guage  and  thus  the  annals  of  the  ancient  Pharaohs  have  become 
legible  before  the  world.  This  museum  is,  no  doubt,  the  richest 
in  the  world.  Think  of  the  relics  found  here !  In  this  museum 
there  is,  for  instance,  a  larger  gathering  in  Egyptian  antiquities 
than  is  found  in  the  Bulak  Museum  at  Cairo.  Any  one  who 
wishes  to  study  Egyptology,  should  go  to  London. 

Another  intensely  interesting  place  is  Mme.  Taussaud’s 
Exhibition.  Here  you  will  find  wax  statues  of  prominent  men 
and  women  from  the  various  countries  of  the  world.  Here  yon 
find  kings  and  queens  and  other  prominent  characters,  who  are 
dressed  in  the  costumes  of  the  time  in  which  they  were  living.  ) 
Quite  a  few  of  the  presidents  of  the  United  States  are  found 
here  on  exhibition.  Here  you  will  find  all  kinds  of  instruments 
of  torture.  Here  I  saw  an  axe  that  was  used  in  the  terrible 
days  of  the  French  revolution  when  20,000  people  were  beheaded 
by  it.  I  would  advise  those  who  are  not  very  strong  not  to  gc 
down  into  the  Chamber  of  Terror.  Here  is  also  a  Napoleor  i 
Chamber,  and  there  are  quite  a  few  things  to  be  seen  from  th(  ; 
life  of  this  man.  Here  are  some  of  his  chairs,  his  mattress,  upor  $ 
which  he  slept  at  Helena,  and  many  other  things,  too  numerous 
to  mention.  $ 

Let  us  also  pay  a  visit  to  Westminster  Abbey.  It  is  a  mag  tl 
nificent  building  and  is  located  quite  near  the  House  oi  ti 

[16] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Parliament.  The  interior  looked  something  like  St.  Paul’s 
Cathedral. 

One  afternoon,  while  in  London,  I  went  to  see  the  Tabernacle 
of  Rev.  C.  H.  Spurgeon.  It  was  not  an  easy  matter  to  be  ad¬ 
mitted  here.  At  last  the  son  of  the  sexton  took  pity  on  me  and, 
of  course,  I  told  him  that  I  had  come  all  the  way  from  America 
and  wished  to  see  the  noted  building.  It  is  quite  a  large  build¬ 
ing  and  well  arranged.  It  is  not  the  tabernacle  that  Rev. 
Spurgeon  used  to  preach  in,  however,  as  that  building  burnt 
down  some  years  ago,  after  the  death  of  that  noted  preacher. 
This  present  building  was  put  up  in  the  same  form  and  on  the 
same  place.  Rev.  Spurgeon’s  influence  is  felt  not  only  in  the 
church  where  he  spent  his  life,  but  in  the  whole  Baptist  church 
and  far  over  its  boundries. 

But  our  time  is  limited  and  we  must  go  on.  Saturday 
morning,  June  19th,  found  us  on  the  way  to  the  Milbury  sta¬ 
tion  from  the  Fenchurch  station,  where  we  had  taken  the  train 
to  the  above  named  place.  When  we  came  to  Milbury  on  the 
Thames,  we  saw  our  boat  ‘  ‘  Thule  ’  ’  ready  to  lift  anchor,  and  the 
Swedish  flag  at  the  top  of  the  mast,  waving  in  the  air.  To  us 
it  was  a  greeting  from  the  continent,  and  we  felt  that  we  had 
come  nearer  the  coast  of  Scandinavia. 

At  1 :45  P.  M.  the  boat  set  out  on  the  Thames  towards 
the  North  sea.  While  the  boat  was  rushing  onward,  we  sat 
down  and  enjoyed  a  very  good  dinner.  To  our  surprise  there 
was  brandy  on  the  table.  It  is  needless  to  say,  that  we  did  not 
touch  it.  Any  one  using  that  should  have  a  throat  thicker  than 
sole  leather,  and  a  conscience  harder  than  a  freetrader. 

Reminding  ourselves  of  the  reports  of  the  stormy  North 
sea,  we  had  boarded  “Thule”  with  a  certain  anxiety,  fearing 
that  we  might  have  a  stormy  journey,  but  to  our  surprise  this 
trip  was  a  very  agreeable  journey,  the  sea  being  quite  calm. 

[17] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Sunday  forenoon  we  had  services  on  the  steamer  and  a 
good  many  attended  them.  When  the  meeting  was  over,  Consul 
Danielson  extended  thanks  in  behalf  of  the  passengers  for  the 
privilege  of  attending  services  on  the  boat.  The  day  was  beau¬ 
tiful  and  it  was  an  enjoyable  hour.  The  afternoon  was  spent 
in  a  lively  conversation  about  the  conditions  in  the  Old  and 
New  world  and  we  had  a  delightful  time. 

During  the  night  we  passed  around  the  northernmost  cape 
of  Denmark,  and  saw  the  lighthouses  on  the  distant  shore  in 
the  darkness.  Late  in  the  evening  we  retired,  knowing  that 
we  were  in  safe  keeping,  and  the  next  morning  we  arose  very 
early,  so  as  to  be  able  to  see  the  first  glimpses  of  the  continent. 
When  I  came  up  on  deck,  we  were  already  among  the  rocks 
in  the  harbor  of  Gothenburg ;  in  a  few  minutes  we  passed  the 
fortress  of  Elfsborg,  and  at  7.30  A.  M.  we  landed  at  the  wharf 
of  Gothenburg.  It  was  now  over  twenty  seven  years  since  my 
feet  touched  the  soil  of  Sweden.  It  was  with  a  peculiar  feeling 
that  we  saw  again  the  old  country,  the  “Land  of  the  Mid¬ 
night  Sun.” 


I  18] 


Chapter  II 


HERE  AND  THERE  IN  SWEDEN,  NORWAY  AND 

DENMARK 

GOTHENBURG  is  the  first  Swedish  city  that  I  visited,  and 
naturally  I  was  very  curious  to  take  it  all  in.  In  the 
afternoon  I  went  to  Ljungskile  on  the  steamer  Kung  Rane  and 
it  was  an  exceedingly  pleasant  trip.  Talk  about  scenery!  On 
the  boat  I  met  an  Associate  Judge  in  the  Gothic  Court,  Hon. 
Oscar  Nyman  of  Swanesund,  a  very  pleasant  man. 

In  the  afternoon  about  five  o’clock  we  came  to  Ljungskile, 
and  when  I  bade  the  judge  farewell,  he  said,  “I  hope  you  will 
not  be  disappointed  in  your  expectations  of  Sweden.”  Here 
in  these  sections  of  Sweden  the  scenery  is  very  picturesque,  and 
I  enjoyed  a  pleasant  rest  during  my  visit  among  the  good  peo¬ 
ple  here.  But  these  light  nights !  They  are  something  so  quaint 
and  peculiar,  when  you  have  not  seen  them  for  a  long  time. 
Late  in  the  evening  I  went  out  to  listen  to  the  stream,  as  it 
“ rolls  its  silver”  in  the  valley  below.  I  listened  to  the  cuckoo 
as  it  sang  in  the  neighboring  bower  on  that  bright  summer 
night.  Late,  if  ever,  shall  I  forget  my  trip  among  those  cliffs 
and  my  stay  among  those  good  folks. 

Returning  to  Gothenburg,  I  went  by  boat  with  the  rest  of 
my  company  on  a  canal  steamer,  Motalastrom,  to  Stockholm. 
We  started  our  journey  the  22  of  June.  It  was  one  of  the 
most  delightful  trips  during  my  journey  abroad.  We  went 
up  the  Gota  river  and  through  the  Trollhattan  canal  to  Weners- 
borg.  The  waterfalls  at  Trollhattan  are  very  picturesque,  and 
the  scenery  round  about  is  grand. 

[19] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


We  came  to  Wenersborg  late  at  night,  and  sat  on  the  deck 
until  midnight.  But  Sweden  has  really  no  night  this  time  of 
the  year.  0,  those  beautiful  nights!  when  it  is  neither  night 
nor  day  —  it  is  something  betwixt  and  between.  We  passed 
the  lake  Wener  during  the  night,  and  when  we  awoke  the  fol¬ 
lowing  morning,  the  steamer  was  far  into  the  country,  moving 
along  the  canal.  In  the  forenoon  we  came  to  Motala.  It  took 
some  time  to  pass  through  the  locks  and  we  had  plenty  of  time 
to  walk  along  the  side  of  the  canal  and  see  the  sights. 

A  little  distance  below  the  city  of  Motala,  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  canal,  stands  the  monument  of  Balzar  Yon  Platen,  the 
builder  of  the  canal,  who,  together  with  his  wife  and  his  son,  is 
buried  near  the  monument. 

Our  journey  from  Gothenburg  to  Stockholm  took  two  days 
and  these  days  gave  us  a  splendid  rest.  On  the  boat  we  found 
congenial  company.  Among  others  I  met  Prof.  P.  G.  Lyth 
from  Orebro.  He  is  professor  of  Latin  at  Orebro  College,  is  a 
pedagogue  and  author  of  note. 

Regarding  our  meeting  on  the  steamer  he  wrote  the  follow¬ 
ing  in  Norrkopings  Press : 

“Then  the  noon  hour  came.  The  tourists  from  America 
ate  most  heartily  at  the  lunch  table,  and  while  at  the  table  I 
addressed  one  of  the  Americans.  I  took  up  the  question  con¬ 
cerning  the  Swedes  in  America  and  discussed  it  from  a  new 
standpoint.  We  spoke  at  length  and  the  rest  of  the  Americans 
became  interested  in  our  conversation,  even  to  such  an  extent 
that  they  forgot  to  eat  their  lunch.  After  dinner  one  of  the 
Americans  came  to  me  —  he  was  tall  and  dark  —  and  began  to 
speak  something  touching  America.  I  found  out  that  he  was 
Doctor  of  Philosophy  and  Theology,  and  President  of  Gustavus 
Adolphus  College,  St.  Peter,  Minn.  We  sat  down  on  the  deck 
and  drank  coffee  together,  and  now  began  a  very  interesting 
conversation  between  him  and  the  rest  of  us.  We  were  four 
Swedes.  He  spoke  with  enthusiasm  of  the  Swedes  in  America, 

[20] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


how  they  have  proven  themselves  faithful  and  industrious  in 
their  work.  They  go  out  into  the  woods  or  on  the  prairies, 
and  there  they  build  themselves  elegant  homes,  and  prove  to 
be  law-abiding  and  faithful  citizens  in  every  walk  of  life.  They 
are  noted  for  their  cleanliness,  fidelity  and  trustworthiness. 
They  are  respected  by  the  American  people,  and  the  descend¬ 
ants  of  the  early  Swedes  on  the  Delaware  are  proud  of  their 
ancestry,  and  are  very  careful  in  keeping  their  lineage. 

“I  happened  to  speak  of  the  characteristics  of  the  Swedish 
people,  and  presented  the  religions  needs  as  one  of  the  chief 
characteristics  of  our  people.  This  is  particularly  manifested 
in  the  works  of  Bishop  Esaias  Tegner,  Doctor  Selma  Lagerlof, 
and  rector  Schuck  of  Upsala  has  given  a  very  powerful  descrip¬ 
tion  of  this  trait  in  his  history  of  Swedish  Literature.  Then 
the  doctor  began  to  speak  of  this  trait  as  manifested  in  the  life 
of  the  Swedish  Americans,  how  they  are  sacrificing  to  build 
churches  and  educational  institutions,  orphan  homes,  homes 
for  the  aged  and  such  institutions  that  will  help  the  needy  and 
sick.  He  told  of  the  work  of  the  Swedish  Americans,  who  came 
across  in  1860  and  1870,  how  they  succeeded  in  their  endeavors 
and  proved  that  they  love  the  country  of  their  adoption.  He 
also  said  that  the  Swede  is  somewhat  reticent  to  begin  with, 
when  he  arrives  in  America,  but  he  soon  overcomes  this  trait 
and  adopts  the  spirit  of  independence  and  thrift.  But  here  in 
Sweden  he  had  seen  so  much  lethargy  and  slowness,  and  yon 
should  have  seen,  how  he  suffered  on  account  of  the  slowness 
among  the  crew  on  the  boat.  Our  boat  was  late,  and  he  spoke 
in  such  glowing  terms  of  the  American  intensity  in  work  that 
I  could  feel  in  my  very  limbs  how  it  feels  when  the  Americans 
are  at  work.  Space  forbids  ns  to  mention  all  he  said  about  the 
American  schools  and  institutions  in  general. 

“By  and  by  all  the  Americans  gathered  around  us,  and 
when  we  passed  through  the  Malar  and  went  by  Kungshatt  to 
Stockholm,  we  were  all  enthused  and  one  of  the  Americans, 
seeing  the  beautiful  scenes  around  the  capitol  city  of  Sweden, 
said,  ‘Now  I  understand,  how  it  can  be  that  the  Swedes  in 
America  have  this  longing  back  to  their  own  country.  They 

[21] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


spoke  so  that  we  all  became  enthusiastic  and  tears  came  in  our 
eyes  and  for  a  long  time  I  could  not  utter  a  word.” 

It  was  in  the  afternoon  of  the  midsummer  day  that  we 
came  through  the  Malar,  which  with  its  islands,  bays,  cliffs,  and 
promontories  presents  a  unique  view  we  cannot  forget.  Our 
steamer  is  drawing  near  the  old  wharf  of  Stockholm.  We  are  in 
the  capital  of  Sweden  and  not  one  of  our  company  has  ever  been 
there  before.  At  Ersta  Deaconess  Hospits  we  found  an  excel¬ 
lent  and  delightful  resting  place  during  our  stay  in  the  city. 
This  institution  is  located  by  the  Malar  and  has  an  ideal  location. 
Here  we  had  an  excellent  view  of  the  city  and  a  better  place  for 
rest  and  spiritual  recreation  could  not  have  been  procured. 

June  25th  was  a  beautiful  day.  The  sun  rose  from  a  cloud¬ 
less  sky,  throwing  a  beautiful  light  over  the  whole  city  of  Stock¬ 
holm  and  lake  of  Malar.  My  first  object  was  to  see  the  Royal 
Castle  on  the  outside ;  —  another  day  I  had  a  chance  to  see  the 
interior.  It  is  located  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  and  busy  streets 
are  on  every  side.  Surely  this  Castle  cannot  be  a  place  for 
repose.  But  the  Royal  family  has  other  places  for  such  purposes. 

Having  seen  the  Castle,  I  went  to  see  some  of  the  noted 
churches  of  Sweden,  and  among  them  I  wish  to  mention  “Stor” 
church  or  the  Great  Church,  St.  James  church  and  Riddarholms 
church.  At  the  eastern  end  of  the  “Stor”  church  is  a  statue  of 
the  reformer  of  Sweden  Olaus  Petri.  On  the  pedestal  of  this 
statue  these  words  are  inscribed,  “  Olaus  Petri,  1495-1552. 
Preacher  of  the  word  of  God,  pastor  in  St.  Nicolai.  We  Swedes 
also  belong  to  God  as  well  as  other  people,  and  the  language  we 
have  God  has  given  us.”  The  church  of  Riddarholmen  is  not 
now  used  for  religious  services,  but  is  set  aside  as  a  burial  place 
for  the  Royal  family  of  Sweden  and  other  prominent  persons. 
It  was  strange  to  walk  about  in  this  ancient  sanctuary,  where  so 
many  prominent  characters  sleep  their  last  sleep.  It  is  in  a  way 

[22] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


a  pantheon  and  there  slumber  many  of  the  heroes  of  old  Sweden. 

The  church  of  Riddarholmen  is  quite  old.  It  was  founded 
by  King  Magnus  Ladulas,  and  for  a  long  time  it  belonged  to  the 
order  of  Franciscans  and  Bridget.  The  congregation  that  used 
this  church  for  their  meetings,  was  dissolved  in  1807  and  since 
that  time  this  church  has  served  as  a  burial  place. 

June  26th,  a  delightful  day,  found  us  at  Skansen.  If  you 
wish  to  see  something  characteristic  of  Swedish  folk  life,  go  to 
Skansen.  Here  you  will  see  it.  Here  you  will  find  all  kinds  of 
relics  from  the  olden  times.  Skansen  is  planned  something  like 
an  American  park.  Here  you  will  find  various  kinds  of  animals, 
and  this  place  attracts  a  great  throng  in  the  summer  time. 

Sunday,  June  27th,  also  came  with  excellent  weather.  It 
was  the  Lord’s  day  and  we  went  to  church,  of  course.  I  at¬ 
tended  the  meeting  in  “Stor”  church  and  then  I  went  to  St. 
Jacob’s  church.  In  the  former  the  pastor  delivered  a  written 
sermon  to  a  small  audience,  and  in  the  latter  I  could  not  get  a 
place  to  sit;  every  place  was  occupied.  The  preacher  delivered 
a  very  plain  sermon  ex  tempore.  Why  this  difference?  Do  the 
people  have  no  confidence  in  the  written  sermons?  Perhaps 
they  think,  that  ‘  ‘  the  letter  killeth,  but  the  spirit  giveth  life.  ’  ’  I 
have  read  of  a  prominent  preacher,  who  used  to  write  his  ser¬ 
mons  for  some  time,  and  yet  they  did  not  seem  to  give  satisfac¬ 
tion.  Then  he  took  them  and  put  them  in  the  stove  and  he  was 
satisfied  that  they  had  not  given  so  much  heat  as  they  then  gave. 
After  all,  it  is  not  the  very  learned  sermons  that  will  bring  out 
the  spiritual  life,  but  it  is  the  plain  and  pure  Gospel  of  the  Lamb, 
slain  before  the  foundation  of  the  world  for  the  salvation  of 
sinful  men.  This  age  is  in  need  of  the  gospel  message.  We  have 
too  much  of  the  gospelless  discourses  in  the  present  day  pulpit. 
Tell  us  the  story  of  redeeming  love.  That  is  the  theme  that  will 
save  the  lost  and  condemned  generations. 


[23] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


The  next  morning  found  me  in  town  to  see  the  sights.  I 
went  out  very  early,  but  the  people  were  out  in  every  nook  and 
corner,  busy  as  ever.  The  people  of  Stockholm  are  not  rushing 
things,  but  they  are  on  the  go  all  the  time  and  whatever  they  are 
doing,  they  are  doing  well.  The  people  in  the  old  world  take 
time  to  live.  They  seem  to  think  “I  am  not  fighting  for  life, 
anyhow.  Whatever  I  cannot  do  today,  I  will  do  tomorrow.” 
But  it  would  be  well  for  many  a  country  in  the  Old  world,  if 
they  would  have  a  little  more  of  the  American  “ get-up  spirit” 
in  them. 

My  first  object  for  the  day  was  to  see  the  Northern  Museum. 
Here  the  tourist  will  find  much  that  is  worth  seeing.  Here  is 
order  and  system  in  the  arrangements,  and  it  is  a  pleasure  to 
see  it.  The  building  cost  six  million  crowns  and  is  a  very  taste¬ 
ful  and  well  planned  building.  Here  are  clothes,  weapons, 
wagons,  instruments  and  what  not  ?  Among  other  things  I  saw 
here  the  little  yellow  horse  on  which  Gustavus  Adolphus  rode 
that  memorable  morning,  at  the  battle  of  Lutzen,  November 
sixth,  1632,  his  bloody  shirt,  which  he  had  on  his  body  that 
eventful  morning,  and  other  relics  of  that  great  King. 

June  30th  we  looked  over  the  Royal  Castle  very  carefully, 
and  surely  it  is  a  building  worthy  of  the  King.  Great  is  the 
Castle,  indeed,  but  I  do  not  envy  the  man,  who  shall  have  to  live 
there  and  be  responsible  for  the  government  of  the  Kingdom. 

I  had  now  seen  quite  a  good  deal  of  the  “ Malar  Queen”  and 
must  get  ready  to  leave.  What  a  history  this  city  has !  It  is  a 
long  time  since  the  Earl  Birger  laid  the  foundations,  and  what 
events  have  taken  place  here !  And  then  the  location !  I  do  not 
blame  the  Swedes  for  feeling  proud  of  the  capital  city.  It  is 
considered  to  be  one  of  the  most  beautiful  cities  of  the  world. 

The  first  of  July  the  train  pulled  out  of  the  railroad  station 
at  Stockholm,  carrying  me  to  the  northern  part  of  Sweden.  At 

[24] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


9  a.  m.  I  came  to  Upsala.  I  could  not  pass  by  this  renowned 
educational  center,  so  I  stopped  off  to  see  it,  although  I  had  only 
one  day  to  do  it  in.  Passing  over  Fyris  river,  I  went  to  the  Dome 
church,  an  attractive  building.  In  this  sanctuary  rest  many  of 
the  early  Royal  families  of  Sweden  and  other  noted  historical 
characters.  Among  the  last  ones  to  find  a  resting  place  within 
these  walls  is  the  renowned  Emanuel  Swedenborg,  who  was 
brought  home  from  England  not  long  ago  to  rest  in  the  land  of 
his  fathers.  To  the  right  of  the  front  door  you  will  find  the 
sarcophagus  of  this  remarkable  man.  Here  is  another  of  those 
pantheons  that  we  find  among  the  nations,  and  heroes  and  hero¬ 
ines  rest  in  peaceful  slumbers  within  these  hallowed  walls.  It  is 
an  old  building,  begun  at  the  end  of  the  13th  century  and  was 
ready  for  dedication  in  1435. 

From  the  Dome  Church  I  went  to  the  University.  As  I 
drew  near  the  building,  I  saw  the  statue  of  Prof.  Erik  Gustaf 
Geijer.  It  stands  in  front  of  the  University.  This  man  hailed 
from  the  backwoods  of  Vermland,  but  became  one  of  the  most 
prominent  men  of  his  country.  He  was  historian,  philosopher, 
poet,  and  professor.  As  we  enter  the  University  building,  we 
see  these  words,  written  on  the  wall,  “The  free  mind  is  great, 
but  the  right  mind  is  greater.”  These  are  the  words  of  the 
renowned  Thomas  Thorild.  The  University  Chapel  is  very  at¬ 
tractive,  but  the  seats  appeared  to  me  to  be  very  plain,  almost 
too  plain  for  such  a  building. 

Next  I  went  to  the  Library,  “Carolina  Rediviva,”  where  the 
librarian  showed  me  a  whole  lot  of  manuscripts  of  prominent 
authors  in  Sweden.  Here  we  can  see  quite  a  few  codices,  and 
among  them  Codex  Argenteus,  or  the  translation  of  the  Bishop 
Wulfila’s  Bible  from  the  latter  part  of  the  fourth  century.  I 
stopped  a  long  time  to  see  the  quaint  old  documents. 

[25] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


As  I  came  down  to  the  city  again,  I  saw  the  spring  of  King 
Erik  the  Holy  and  drank  from  it.  It  is  said,  that  when  this 
King’s  blood  was  shed,  there  sprang  up  a  fountain,  which  is 
flowing  yet.  Be  that  as  it  may,  one  thing  is  certain,  and  that 
is,  that  when  King  Immanuel’s  side  was  pierced  on  Cavalry, 
there  sprang  up  a  fountain,  which  has  given  living  water  to  the 
salvation  of  souls  of  mankind.  Near  by  the  fountain  of  Erik  I 
saw  the  old  foundation  of  the  first  University  building,  which 
was  erected  in  the  time  of  King  Sten  Sture  the  Elder,  who  ruled 
from  1470-1497.  It  was  during  his  reign  that  Jacob  Ulfsson 
founded  the  Upsala  University  in  1477.  This  man  has  been 
honored  by  being  given  a  resting  place  behind  the  altar  of  the 
Cathedral,  which  is  near  by  this  fountain  and  the  ancient  ruins. 

In  the  afternoon  I  went  to  Old  Upsala  by  train.  Here  are 
not  very  many  sights,  if  we  except  the  old  church  and  the  hills 
of  Odin,  Thor  and  Frey.  From  any  one  of  these  heights  there 
is  a  charming  view  in  all  directions.  To  the  northwest  we  see 
the  plain  of  Fyris.  It  was  on  this  plain  that  Erik  Segersall  and 
his  nephew  Styrbjorn  Starke  fought  a  two  days’  battle.  On  the 
third  day  Styrbjorn  Starke  and  the  greater  part  of  his  army 
fell.  The  old  vikings  could  not  have  chosen  a  better  battlefield 
than  this  plain. 

To  the  southeast  lie  the  Mora  Stones,  where  the  heathen 
forefathers  of  the  Swedes  gathered  for  court.  Here  they  estab¬ 
lished  laws  and  executed  them,  and  important  matters,  pertain¬ 
ing  to  the  welfare  of  the  country,  were  determined  upon.  The 
reader  will  remember  that  the  heathen  forefathers  had  established 
laws  in  the  various  sections  of  the  country.  The  East  Goths, 
the  west  Goths  and  the  various  sections  of  Sweden  had  their  laws, 
which  have  been  to  a  great  extent  preserved,  and  these  laws  are 
remarkable  not  only  because  of  the  language,  but  also  on  account 
vof  their  contents. 


[26] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 

To  the  southwest  is  a  hill,  on  which  a  monument  to  the 
honor  of  Sten  Sture  has  been  erected.  A  more  suitable  place 
for  a  monument  could  hardly  have  been  chosen.  It  pays  to 
climb  these  hills  and  see  this  excellent  view.  When  were  these 
three  hills  made  ?  They  are  not  natural ;  they  were  made  in  the 
heathen  times  and  it  would  be  interesting,  indeed,  to  know  the 
history  of  these  heathen  monuments.  So  far  we  only  know  the 
names  of  them  and  realize  that  they  were  built  in  honor  of  Odin, 
Thor  and  Frey,  three  gods  of  Scandinavian  mythology. 

Going  down  the  hill  we  saw  the  old  church,  which  dates 
back  from  the  heathen  times. 

Having  seen  the  Old  Upsala,  I  returned  by  train  to  Upsala 
and  prepared  for  the  journey  northward  in  the  evening.  I  found 
time  to  visit  the  Fjellstedt  College,  and  here  I  met  the  President 
of  the  institution,  Rev.  Johannes  Kjerfstedt,  a  splendid  man, 
who  has  served  in  the  capacity  of  Rector  for  the  last  forty  years. 

With  the  fast  train  I  then  went  to  Lapland.  This  is  one  of 
the  most  interesting  journeys  that  can  be  made.  The  beautiful 
climate,  the  bright  summer  night,  the  romantic  valleys  and  the 
picturesque  mountains  —  all  this  made  it  appear  as  though  I 
had  come  into  a  new  world.  The  part  of  Sweden,  which  we  are 
passing  through  during  the  night,  reminds  us  very  much  of  the 
State  of  Washington,  or  perhaps  we  might  say,  that  the  State 
of  Washington  reminds  us  of  the  northern  part  of  Sweden.  But 
the  soil  in  this  part  seems  to  be  very  poor,  and  it  was  a  question 
in  my  mind,  how  the  people  could  secure  their  living  in  these 
sections  of  the  land. 

In  the  morning  we  came  to  Kiruna.  Not  far  from  here,  to 
the  north,  is  the  noted  tourist  station  Abisco.  The  scenery  here 
is  certainly  very  grand,  and  some  Germans,  who  stood  by  the 
car  windows,  said:  “ Wunderschon,  Wunderschon ! ” 

[27] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


As  we  come  to  Abisco,  we  see  quite  a  plain,  covered  with 
trees,  and  near  by  is  the  mountain  lake  Torneatrask.  And  such 
a  spectacle.  Yonder  in  the  distance  are  snow  capped  mountains, 
mirrored  in  the  crystal  clear  lake  of  Torneatrask.  It  would, 
indeed,  be  worth  while  to  stop  at  this  station  and  view  the  won¬ 
derful  sights,  but  we  must  go  on  northward 

We  are  now  in  the  mountain  region  of  northern  Sweden  and 
snow  covered  mountain  peaks  are  seen  all  around  us.  As  we 
are  winding  our  way  up  toward  Riksgransen,  the  boundary  lines 
between  Sweden  and  Norway,  there  are  herds  of  reindeer  moving 
along  the  railroad  track.  In  the  summer  they  go  up  to  the 
mountains,  but  in  the  winter  they  go  southward  to  milder 
climates.  The  soil  here  is  very  meager  and  the  food  for  the 
reindeer  is  necessarily  scant. 

As  we  journey  northward,  the  trees  are  becoming  shorter 
and  shorter  and  very  soon  they  vanish  entirely.  The  only  tree 
that  we  see  is  the  dwarf  birch,  but  at  Riksgransen  even  this  dis¬ 
appears  and  the  ground  is  naked  or  covered  with  snow.  The  cold 
is  intense  in  these  high  regions  and  as  we  come  to  the  station, 
Riksgransen,  the  wind  is  howling  through  the  station  and  it 
feels  as  though  it  were  real  winter.  The  mountains  are  covered 
with  snow,  which  reaches  far  down  the  valleys  and  plains  at  the 
foot  of  the  mountains. 

From  here  we  go  down  on  the  western  side  of  Kjolen,  and  as 
we  descend,  the  climate  becomes  milder  and  milder.  Our  train 
is  winding  down  to  Romviken,  a  bay  of  the  Atlantic.  As  we 
descend  we  see  many  laps  in  their  huts,  but  they  are  shy  and 
evade  our  cameras  very  cleverly.  At  noon  our  train  arrives  at 
the  station  at  Narvik,  the  northernmost  railroad  station  in  the 
world.  The  city  of  Narvik,  which  has  a  very  picturesque  loca¬ 
tion  here  by  the  bay,  is  surrounded  by  snow-covered  mountain 

[28] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 

peaks,  but  the  climate  here  is  very  much  milder  than  it  is  on 
the  Swedish  side  of  the  mountain. 

In  the  afternoon  I  climbed  one  of  the  peaks  near  the  city, 
and  it  was  a  real  pleasure  to  see  the  vicinity  of  this  unique  town 
in  these  northern  regions.  At  the  docks  the  steamers  are  re¬ 
ceiving  ore  from  the  Kiruna  mines  and  this  splendid  ore  is  sent 
to  various  parts  of  the  Old  world,  and  some  of  it  is  shipped  to 
the  New. 

In  the  evening  I  returned  to  Kiruna  and  went  up  to  see  the 
midnight  sun  on  the  top  of  Loussavara.  It  took  us  about  half 
an  hour  to  get  to  the  top  of  this  iron  mountain,  but  it  certainly 
pays  to  get  the  grand  view  from  the  top  of  it.  At  first  there  was 
a  cloud  before  the  sun  and  we  could  not  see  it  clearly.  In  about 
half  an  hour  the  cloud  passed  away  and  there  is  the  sight,  which 
I  have  longed  to  see  —  the  midnight  sun,  —  and  what  a  sight !  It 
was  the  most  peculiar  spectacle  I  have  ever  seen.  It  was  neither 
night  nor  day;  it  was  something  betwixt  and  between  as  the 
Bishop  Esaias  Tegner  so  beautifully  has  expressed  it  in  Frith- 
iof’s  Saga. 

We  remained  on  the  top  of  Loussavara  until  early  in  the 
morning,  and  as  it  was  somewhat  cold  up  there,  we  made  a  fire 
and  enjoyed  ourselves  the  best  we  knew  how  in  those  scenic 
regions.  We  could,  of  course,  not  think  of  any  sleep  or  rest 
that  night. 

The  following  day  was  Sunday.  Returning  to  the  city  of 
Kiruna,  I  could  not  think  of  any  sleep,  so  I  determined  to  walk 
around  in  the  city  and  see  the  town. 

I  was  somewhat  surprised,  when  at  church,  to  find  so  few 
men  attend  the  Lord’s  supper.  The  guests  at  the  Lord’s  table 
were  mostly  women  and  children,  who  were  just  then  confirmed. 
Where  were  the  men?  Some  men  pride  themselves  in  not  at¬ 
tending  the  antiquated  institution  —  the  Christian  church.  The 

[29] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


lodge  is  all  the  church  they  want,  and  these  men  are  perfectly 
willing  to  leave  matters  pertaining  to  church  worship  and  the 
education  of  their  children  to  the  women.  These  are  men  who 
often  say,  “The  services  at  the  churches  are  only  attended  by 
women  and  children.7’  I  wish  to  retort  to  this.  There  is  another 
institution  where  the  men  are  more  numerous  than  the  women 
and  that  institution  is  the  penitentiary.  Is  this  the  case,  because 
the  women  stay  by  the  church,  and  receive  its  uplifting  and 
moulding  influence? 

It  would  do  the  fathers  good  to  attend  such  a  splendid 
service  as  was  held  at  Kiruma,  that  Sunday  morning.  But  where 
were  the  men  ?  Perhaps  at  home,  and  fast  asleep  or  reading  the 
newspaper  ?  Or  perhaps  at  the  saloon  ?  Glorious  will  be  the  day, 
when  these  hell-holes  on  earth  will  be  forever  swept  from  the  face 
of  this  benighted  globe.  But  there  is  reason  to  believe,  that  when 
the  saloon  has  gone,  the  ingenious  satan  will  invent  something 
else  to  degrade  and  enslave  the  poor  souls  of  men. 

I  left  Kiruna  in  the  evening  and  stopped  at  Ljusdahl,  where 
I  found  a  quiet  resting  place  at  the  home  of  the  Reverend  B.  G. 
Johnzon.  Here  I  felt  at  home  in  his  godfearing  family,  and 
enjoyed  myself  very  much  in  this  idyllic  place.  A  better  place 
for  recreation  could  not  be  found. 

As  Rev.  Johnzon  and  I  were  walking  along  the  Ljusnan 
river  we  were  discussing  the  conditions  in  Sweden  and  especially 
in  the  state  church.  This  church  has  many  opponents  in  Sweden 
and  they  are  doing  everything  they  can  to  hasten  its  fall.  In  the 
higher  institutions  of  learning,  especially  the  universities,  there 
is  a  strong  tendency  towards  the  higher  criticism.  In  the  parlia¬ 
ment  there  are  many  who  are  doing  all  they  can  to  defend  the 
universities  and  the  higher  schools,  but  they  have  no  use  for  the 
church  and  its  needs.  Rev.  Johnzon  is  a  man  of  great  erudition 
and  conversant  with  the  true  condition  of  the  church  of  Sweden. 


[30] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


5 

i 


He  has  a  large  parish.  There  are  over  10,000  souls  in  his 
congregation  and  he  complained  that  he  could  not  tend  to  it 
the  way  he  would  like.  He  has  a  great  help  in  his  faithful  wife 
and  they  are  striving  to  upbuild  the  walls  of  Zion  in  their  section 
of  the  land. 

Having  received  necessary  rest  at  Ljusdahl,  I  continued 
my  journey  in  the  company  of  Rev.  Johnzon,  who  went  down  to 
Bollnas.  From  this  place  I  continued  to  Sandviken,  where  I 
wished  to  meet  Rev.  Johan  Fryklund,  the  pastor,  who  confirmed 
me.  He  lived  with  his  family  at  Hogbo,  a  very  beautiful  location 
between  two  lakes.  Here  I  rested  and  truly  could  not  find  a 
better  place  for  recreation.  From  Sandviken  I  went  to  Ratvik 
and  Mora  in  Dalcarlia.  In  Falund  the  celebrated  Doctor  Selma 
Lagerlof  takes  up  her  abode  in  the  wintertime,  but  in  summer  she 
lives  in  her  childhood  home,  Marbacka  in  Warmland.  At  Ratvik 
and  Mora  nature  has  lavished  its  great  treasures.  Siljan  is  a 
very  beautiful  lake,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  find  anything  like  it. 

July  8th  I  came  to  Mora  and  I  must,  of  course,  see  the 
historic  places  here.  I  went  to  Utmeland,  where  the  Vasa  Cellar 
is  located.  The  reader  will  recollect  that  troublesome  times  had 
come  to  Sweden,  when  one  of  its  noblest  sons,  Gustaf  Vasa,  sought 
refuge  in  this  part  of  the  land  and  hid  himself  here  an  there 
in  Dalecarlia.  At  one  time  he  sought  refuge  in  th  is  Cellar. 
Danish  spies  were  searching  all  over  for  him  and  a  price  was 
fixed  on  his  head.  The  Danes  came  over  the  bay  of  Siljan,  the 
woman  of  the  house  put  him  in  the  cellar,  and  placed  a  tub  over 
the  opening  and  so  Gustaf  escaped  this  time.  By  the  help  of 
the  faithful  sons  of  Dalecarlia  he  drove  the  Danes  out  of  the 
country  and  became  the  ruler  of  the  land.  He  was  the  king  of 
Sweden  from  1523-1560,  when  he  died. 

The  church  of  Mora  is  quite  old.  The  tower  was  built  by 
king  Charles  XI  to  the  glory  of  God,  in  the  year  1663. 


[31] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


From  Mora  I  wended  my  way  to  my  birthplace  and  passed 
through  southern  Dalecarlia  and  its  great  forests.  The  country 
reminded  me  of  the  “wild  and  woolly”  west,  there  being  very 
few  dwelling  places  along  the  railroad.  We  passed  through  large 
forests  and  came  at  last  to  the  boundary  lines  of  Warmland.  Here 
nature  is  quite  different  and  you  will  notice  a  marked  change  in 
the  character  of  the  people.  Soon  we  arrive  at  Kil,  passing  by 
Philipstad,  in  the  vicinity  of  which,  the  last  resting  place  of  Mr. 
John  Ericsson  is  found.  In  these  parts  of  the  world  he  saw 
the  light  of  the  day  for  the  first  time,  and  at  a  more  mature  age 
went  to  England,  and  from  thence  to  America.  The  reader  will 
call  to  mind  the  services  he  rendered  his  land  of  adoption  dur¬ 
ing  his  sojourn  there.  One  of  the  greatest  is  the  invention  of 
the  Monitor  type  of  battleships,  and  all  know  what  his  Monitor 
did  that  memorable  day  at  Hampton  Roads  in  1862.  It  was  a 
great  day,  when  the  remains  of  Captain  Ericsson  were  sent  home 
to  his  mother  country. 

In  the  afternoon  we  arrived  at  Kil  and  here  I  was  com¬ 
pelled  to  remain  till  the  next  day,  because  there  was  no  train  in 
the  afternoon.  Early  in  the  morning  there  was  a  train  for 
Fryksta,  which  is  located  at  the  southern  end  of  the  lake  Fryken. 
At  the  wharf  is  the  steamer  “Gosta  Berling,  ”  ready  to  start  its 
journey  over  the  lakes,  Upper  and  Lower  Fryken.  The  reader 
will  remember  that  the  celebrated  authoress,  Dr.  Selma  Lager- 
lof,  published  a  book  under  the  title  “Gosta  Berling,”  and  that 
is  why  the  boat  has  been  given  that  name.  We  are  in  the  home 
province  of  this  noted  lady.  This  valley,  the  valley  of  Fryken 
lakes,  is  one  of  the  most  noted  and  picturesque  sections  of 
Sweden,  and  one  that  the  tourists  like  to  visit.  This  part  of 
Warmland  has  become  noted  also  by  the  celebrated  work  of 
Selma  Lagerlof,  “Gosta  Berling ’s  Saga,”  in  which  she  among 
other  things  describes  the  country  and  the  folk-life  in  the  middle 


[32] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


of  the  past  century.  She  has  given  other  names  to  the  various 
places  that  she  describes. 

To  the  east  of  the  Lower  Fryken  lies  the  parish  Eastern 
Emtervik,  and  on  the  opposite  side  is  the  Western  Emtervik, 
where  are  the  beautiful  plains  which  she  has  so  graphically  de¬ 
scribed.  The  authoress  lives  in  Eastern  Emtervik  at  a  place 
called  Marbacka.  We  shall  visit  this  place  on  our  way  back. 
At  Sunne,  which  is  between  the  two  lakes,  the  renowned  Swedish 
historian  Anders  Fryksell  used  to  live.  His  statue  stands  on  a 
pedestal  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  canal  between  the  lakes. 
Prof.  Frykell  was  not  only  an  historian,  but  also  a  poet.  He 
wrote  among  other  poems  the  song  to  Warmland,  which  is  sung 
all  over  the  world,  where  Swedish  people  are  living. 

July  13th  I  continued  my  journey  to  Hvitsand,  my  home 
parish.  The  road  winds  along  the  shores  of  lakes,  banks  of  rivers 
and  fruitful  fields.  At  noon  we  arrived  at  the  parsonage  in 
Hvitsand,  where  I  met  the  Rev.  Anders  Norstedt,  the  pastor  of 
this  parish.  In  his  hospitable  home  I  found  needed  rest,  and 
two  Sundays  in  succession  preached  in  the  church  of  Hvitsand 
to  great  gatherings,  reminding  myself  of  the  past  days,  when  I 
as  a  boy  used  to  attend  this  church.  Here  I  was  confirmed  in  the 
month  of  November  1880,  and  then  I  promised  to  be  faithful  to 
my  Lord  and  Savior.  The  good  Lord  knows  all  my  short-com¬ 
ings  in  life  since  then.  Having  been  absent  twenty-seven  years 
from  my  early  home,  I  was  there  again  and  could  now  look  back 
upon  the  past  years. 

Many  and  varied  had  been  my  experiences  in  the  past  since 
that  time  and  I  had  every  reason  to  be  thankful  to  my  God  for 
his  loving  kindness  to  me  in  every  way.  A  good  many  things 
had  changed.  The  majority  of  the  old  folks  had  gone  to  the 
Great  Beyond,  and  the  young  people  had  grown  up  to  manhood 
and  womanhood.  The  only  thing  that  looked  quite  the  same  was 

[33] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


the  country.  The  old  pathways  were  there,  those  that  I  trod 
while  I  was  a  young  boy.  How  could  I  forget  the  murmuring 
brook,  the  flower  covered  meadow,  where  I  used  to  run  around 
as  a  shepherd  boy,  the  primeval  forest,  the  delightful  bower, 
where  the  birds  used  to  sing  their  melodious  songs  in  the  early 
morning,  the  cuckoo  and  the  swallow  singing  in  sweet  harmony. 
Here  in  Warmland  you  see  along  the  road  the  quaint  old  dwell¬ 
ing  places,  where  the  old  folks  used  to  live,  and  where  you  could 
see  them  in  the  early  Sunday  morning  with  the  hymn-book  and 
the  white  handkerchief  in  hand,  in  great  throngs,  go  to  the 
church.  Many  things  are  so  very  much  like  the  old  time  cus¬ 
toms,  but  in  a  quarter  of  a  century  quite  a  few  things  have 
changed,  to  be  sure. 

Sweden  has  not  been  left  behind  in  the  great  strides  that 
have  been  made  by  the  various  nations  and  it  was  a  pleasure  to 
me  to  observe  how  things  have  been  moving  onward.  Quite  a 
few  things  have  changed  for  the  better  in  matters  pertaining 
to  the  church,  and  I  noted  this  with  great  pleasure.  There  are 
some  who  have  affiliated  themselves  with  the  Free  Church  move¬ 
ment,  but  the  majority  of  the  people  still  hold  fast  to  the  State 
church. 

But  I  observed  another  thing  in  temporal  matters,  which 
did  not  please  me  in  the  least.  In  the  former  days  the  farmer 
sought  to  clear  his  farm  and  thus  prepare  it  for  crops,  but  now 
they  let  the  trees  grow  and  right  in  my  former  home  vicinity  I 
observed  many  farms  overgrown  with  trees.  The  consequence 
has  been  that  the  people  have  been  compelled  to  seek  homes  for 
themselves  elsewhere  and  have  done  so.  The  people  who  used  to 
live  here  in  these  parts  of  Sweden  are  now  located,  by  the  thou¬ 
sands,  in  the  various  states  of  the  great  country  beyond  the 
Atlantic. 


[34] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


In  the  state  of  Minnesota  and  adjoining  states  yon  will  find 
them ;  and  any  one  familiar  with  their  condition  will  readily 
acknowledge  that  they  have  prospered.  Very  often  the  poor 
man  is  criticised  because  he  leaves  his  native  country,  emigrates 
to  foreign  lands,  there  to  contend  with  so  many  things  that  con¬ 
front  him.  But  before  such  a  complaint  is  lodged  against  the 
poor  emigrant,  it  would  be  well  to  investigate  with  a  view  of 
finding  out  his  real  condition  and  the  causes  that  lead  to  his 
departure  from  his  native  country. 

"We  know  that  conditions  are  quite  different  in  other  parts 
of  Sweden,  and  have  only  tried  to  depict  the  actual  situation  in 
that  part  of  Warmland,  where  I  was  brought  up.  As  long  as 
land  companies  are  permitted  to  sow  pine  and  spruce  seed  on  the 
farms  and  raise  timber,  in  this  way  making  it  almost  impossible 
to  earn  a  living,  we  should  not  be  surprised  that  the  poor  man  is 
seeking  refuge  in  other  countries,  where  he  will  find  better  op¬ 
portunities  for  himself  and  his  children. 

Having  spent  about  two  weeks  in  these  sections,  wandering 
in  the  woods,  over  the  hills  and  in  the  valleys  and  by  the  lake 
Mangen,  where  I  spent  many  a  day  as  a  boy,  it  became  necessary 
for  me  to  depart.  I  determined  to  see  Norway  and  as  time  is 
very  limited,  I  must  hasten  on.  Farewell,  ye  meadows  and 
crooks,  bowers  and  lanes,  the  scenes  of  my  early  days !  Perhaps 
l  shall  never  see  these  scenes  any  more.  Then  farewell ! 

I  returned  southward  to  call  on  the  celebrated  authoress,  Dr. 
Selma  Lagerlof.  My  steamer  landed  at  Eastern  Emtervik  and 
:’rom  there  it  is  a  few  miles  to  her  home  Marbacka.  It  was  a 
>eautiful  afternoon  and  I  determined  to  walk  these  few  miles 
ind  it  certainly  proved  to  be  a  very  enjoyable  stroll.  As  I  came 
o  her  residence,  I  found  her  sitting  on  the  porch,  conversing  with 
mother  lady,  Sophia  Elkan.  Although  she  is  very  busy,  she 
pent  some  time  with  me  on  the  porch,  talking  about  the  condi- 

[35] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


tions  in  the  New  World.  When  she  found  out  that  I  was  a 
Swedish  American,  she  became  very  interested  and  spoke  of  the 
Swedes  in  America  and  wondered,  if  a  goodly  number  would 
not  return  to  Sweden  again.  I  told  her  that  I  did  not  think  so, 
explaining  the  reasons  why.  We  spoke  of  the  educational  institu¬ 
tions  that  Swedes  have  built  and  the  other  work  in  general  that 
they  have  done  in  the  United  States.  They  feel  at  home  in 
America  and  are  there  to  stay.  It  is  their  country. 

When  she  found  out  that  I  was  on  my  way  to  the  Orient, 
she  told  me  of  her  trip  to  Jerusalem  a  few  years  ago  and  of  her 
visit  to  the  Swedish  Americans  of  that  city.  She  advised  me  to 
stay  with  them,  if  an  opportunity  would  be  given,  saying  that 
she  stopped  at  the  Grand  Hotel,  but  it  was  very  expensive  to 
stop  there.  When  I  bade  her  farewell,  she  told  me  to  greet  the 
countrymen  in  America.  I  promised  to  do  so  and  took  occasion 
to  invite  her  to  visit  the  New  World.  I  assured  her  that  I 
would  be  very  pleased,  if  I  could  assure  our  people  in  America 
that  she  would  visit  them,  but  then  she  answered:  “No,  do  not 
do  it.  I  am  so  very  busy  and  not  quite  well.” 

The  place  where  she  lives,  Marbacka,  is  her  old  home,  and 
to  be  sure,  it  is  a  very  beautiful  country.  No  wonder  that  her 
Pegasus  takes  to  flight  in  these  regions.  Dr.  Selma  Lagerlof 
is  a  very  interesting  personality.  I  was  told  by  a  professor  on 
the  Gota  canal  that  she  is  rather  quiet  and  less  disposed  to 
converse,  but  this  was  not  the  impression  she  left  with  me.  She 
seemed  quite  talkative  and  social.  She  leaves  the  impression 
that  you  are  speaking  with  a  powerful  personality,  with  no 
one  less  than  the  authoress  of  “Gosta  Berlings  Saga”  and 
“Jerusalem.”  She  is  a  woman  of  medium  height  and  some¬ 
what  obese.  Her  face  is  full,  the  forehead  quite  high,  the 
hair  somewhat  gray  and  the  eyes  bear  witness  of  an  active  and 


[36] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


powerful  soul.  No  wonder  that  this  woman  has  received  the 
Nobel  prize.  She  has  certainly  merited  it. 

But  we  must  leave  these  idyllic  scenes  along  the  Fryken 
lakes  and  proceed  to  Carlstad.  I  arrived  there  in  the  evening 
and  had  time  to  view  the  town.  Carlstad  is  certainly  a  very 
beautiful  city  on  the  shore  of  lake  Waner,  and  on  the  Tingwalla 
island.  It  was  founded  by  Charles  IX,  1584,  while  he  was 
prince  and  in  1865  it  was  destroyed  by  fire. 

The  following  day  I  arose  early  in  the  morning  and  boarded 
a  train  that  would  bring  me  to  Christiania.  When  we  came  to 
the  Norwegian  boundary,  an  officer  came  through  the  train 
and  inquired  where  we  came  from.  He  wished  to  know  par¬ 
ticularly,  if  we  came  from  Russia,  and,  no  doubt,  for  the  reason 
that  cholera  was  raging  quite  severely  in  Russia  at  that  time. 
At  Kongsvinger  we  stopped  for  some  time  for  breakfast.  I  then 
recollected  that  on  an  early  April  morning,  at  this  very  sta¬ 
tion,  in  1882,  two  young  boys,  accompanied  by  their  father, 
came  hither  over  the  Swedish  and  Norwegian  mountains  to 
continue  their  journey  to  America.  One  of  these  boys  was  the 
author  of  these  lines  and  the  other  passed  into  Eternity  many 
years  ago.  Having  put  his  boys  on  the  train,  the  father  re¬ 
turned  home  again,  but  to  take  the  same  road  only  two  years 
afterwards.  As  I  sat  at  the  station,  I  wondered,  why  I  should 
be  left  to  see  these  places  once  more,  while  my  brother  was 
taken  away  in  his  youthful  days.  As  I  was  pondering  this 
question,  my  train  started  off  for  Christiania.  We  followed 
the  beautiful  river  valley  of  Glommen.  Surely  the  Norwegians 
have  reason  to  feel  proud  of  it.  At  half  past  ten  in  the  morning 
we  were  at  the  station  in  the  capital  city  of  Norway. 

After  dinner  I  went  out  to  see  the  city  and  first  I  went  to 
the  University.  Near  by  the  main  building,  I  found  in  a  little 
house,  the-  old  viking  ship,  called  the  Gokstad  ship,  from  the 


[37] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


place  where  it  was  found  in  1881.  It  is  made  of  oak  planks  and 
fastened  together  with  iron  bolts.  On  examining  the  ship, 
you  can  easily  see  that  the  old  vikings  used  plane,  saw  and 
chisel  in  building  it.  It  is  at  least  nine  hundred  years  old, 
and  looks  old  in  every  way.  Beside  this  ship  were  found  the 
bones  of  twelve  horses,  six  dogs,  and  one  peacock,  as  well  as 
parts  of  five  beds.  Within  the  ship  was  found  the  skeleton  of 
a  man,  without  doubt  the  skeleton  of  the  viking  chief,  who  was 
buried  with  his  ship. 

In  the  evening  I  boarded  the  train  for  Trondhjem.  This 
trip  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most  delightful  that  I  had  made  so 
far  and  I  enjoyed  it  immensely.  The  railroad  winds  its  way 
along  the  very  picturesque  Lake  Mjosen.  July  thirtieth  we 
came  to  Trondhjem. 

The  city  is  rather  quaint  and  old  looking.  The  houses  are 
low,  and  the  red  tiles  on  the  roofs  give  the  city  a  unique  ap¬ 
pearance.  Here  is  the  old  Nidaros,  whose  history  goes  far 
back  to  the  heathen  age.  The  greatest  sight  in  the  Trondhjem 
is  the  Dome  church.  This  temple  is,  without  doubt,  the  most 
beautiful  sanctuary  in  the  Scandinavian  North.  It  is  also  the 
largest.  It  is  325  feet  long,  180  feet  wide  and  has  a  very  high 
tower,  which  rises  from  the  middle  of  the  church.  The  edifice 
is  very  old  and  was  founded  between  1066  and  1093  by  King 
Olaf.  It  has  burnt  down  five  times,  and  three  times  the  light¬ 
ning  has  set  fire  to  it.  In  1531,  the  whole  city  of  Trondhjem 
with  the  church  was  burnt.  One  end  of  the  church  or  the 
church  proper  has  stood  since  that  time  without  a  roof.  The 
style  is  Gothic  and  is  rather  odd. 

In  the  afternoon  I  visited  the  museums  and  the  fort,  which 
is  located  a  little  distance  to  the  north  of  the  city.  It  is  situ¬ 
ated  on  a  high  hill.  From  this  hill  you  have  an  excellent  view 
of  the  whole  city. 


[38] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


In  the  evening  I  returned  to  Christiania,  as  I  felt  that  I 
had  had  a  chance  to  see  all  there  was  to  be  seen  in  this  city.  On 
the  morning  of  the  next  day  I  continued  my  journey  to  Sweden. 
Late  in  the  evening  the  same  day  I  passed  Fredrickshall  and 
saw  to  the  right  of  the  railroad  the  fortress,  or  rather  the  old 
gloomy  walls  of  the  ancient  fortress,  from  the  time  of  Charles 
the  XII  of  Sweden.  To  the  left  there  is  a  somewhat  low  or 
level  place.  On  this  plain  stood  the  Swedish  army  with  its 
brave  leader,  Charles,  the  12th  of  November,  1718.  For  nine 
long  years  Charles  had  seen  success  in  this  campaign,  but  then 
came  nine  years  of  reverses,  distress  and  losses.  Down  on  this 
plain,  in  the  trenches,  came  a  bullet  that  ended  the  life  of 
Charles  and  laid  him  in  the  grave.  Sweden  stood  at  that  time 
on  the  brink  of  destruction  and  ruin,  but  the  mighty  hand  of 
God  saved  it  for  better  and  happier  days. 

The  following  day  was  Sunday,  and  quite  early  in  the 
morning  I  came  to  Lidkoping.  Having  attended  the  church 
in  the  forenoon,  I  went  in  the  afternoon  to  Winninga  to  meet 
a  certain  pastor  who  used  to  be  my  school  mate  in  the  seminary. 
In  his  quiet  home  I  recuperated.  I  had  journeyed  for  some 
time  and  felt  it  necessary  to  have  a  few  days’  rest. 

Having  secured  needed  rest,  I  continued  my  journey  to 
Falkoping,  Jonkoping,  Nasjo  and  Hastveda.  Here  I  was  com¬ 
pelled  to  stay  over  night,  because  there  was  no  train  to  bring 
me  onward.  The  next  day,  a  beautiful  day,  I  proceeded  to 
Skane  and  stopped  at  Degeberga  for  a  few  days.  Skane  is  the 
granary  of  Sweden,  and  this  province  is  not  only  rich  in  many 
ways,  but  it  is  also  a  very  beautiful  country. 

On  my  journey  to  Malmo  I  stopped,  of  course,  at  Lund,  the 
University  town  of  Southern  Sweden.  There  are  many  places 
of  interest  in  this  city  for  the  tourists.  Here  I  saw  Lundagard, 
Tegners  Place,  the  Cathedral  and  the  University.  In  the  old 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Tegner ’s  Place  I  lingered  for  a  long  time.  Here  I  found  a  num¬ 
ber  of  manuscripts  and  articles  used  by  the  professor  and 
poet,  Esaias  Tegner.  There  are  also  other  things  that  used  to 
belong  to  Tegner,  while  he  was  Bishop,  such  as  books,  rings, 
watches,  spectacles,  looking  glasses  and  the  like.  There  is  only 
one  room  left  of  the  old  Tegner  House.  The  Tegner  Associa¬ 
tion  has  paid  the  sum  of  three  thousand  crowns  for  this,  so  as 
to  be  able  to  keep  the  old  relics  of  the  noted  man. 

Onward,  ever  onward,  was  my  watchword  and  my  next 
place  was  Malmo.  Here  I  found  my  fellow  tourists  and  here 
we  spent  some  time  to  compare  notes  of  our  various  experiences 
in  Sweden.  We  spent  some  days  in  rest  and  recreation,  before 
we  left  the  old  Svea  to  proceed  to  other  countries  in  Europe. 

In  comparing  notes  we  found  that  all  were  pleased  with 
the  beautiful  climate,  the  delightful  summer  nights  and  the 
visits  in  the  homes  of  the  fathers.  But  in  regard  to  the  church 
they  were  not  all  equally  pleased.  There  were  differences  of 
opinion  along  this  line  and  all  seemed  to  agree  that  the  best 
land  under  the  sun,  is  the  country  of  our  adoption,  the  United 
States  of  America.  They  had  had  a  chance  to  see  things  from 
a  different  angle  and  make  comparisons  and  the  general  verdict 
was  this:  “No  country  like  our  own  beloved  America.” 

In  Malmo  everything  was  at  a  standstill  because  of  the 
great  strike.  Some  of  the  people  complained  very  much  of  the 
conditions  brought  about  by  the  railroad  strike.  Others,  on 
the  other  hand,  rejoiced  and  were  sure  of  victory  for  the 
strikers.  As  for  us,  it  made  no  difference,  since  the  strike  did 
not  hinder  us  in  the  least.  There  are  a  good  many  things  that 
we  might  relate,  now  that  we  are  on  the  point  of  leaving 
Sweden,  but  it  is,  perhaps,  better  to  leave  these  things  unsaid. 
This  I  must  say,  though,  that  there  was  a  great  lack  of  patri¬ 
otism  among  many  of  the  people  of  Sweden.  It  is  certainly 


[40] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


not  as  it  ought  to  be,  when  the  people  do  not  stand  up  solidly 
for  their  country.  To  my  surprise  I  had  not  found  that  whole¬ 
hearted  patriotism  that  I  had  expected.  How  often  do  we 
hear  voices  like  these :  “Down  with  the  throne,  down  with  the 
altar!”  It  is  certainly  not  well,  when  such  voices  are  heard. 
But  let  it  be  sufficient  to  mention  just  this  point !  And  it  is 
a  sad  one,  indeed. 

We  are  now  on  the  way  to  Copenhagen,  Denmark.  As  we 
passed  over  the  Oresund  between  Sweden  and  Denmark  and 
saw  Sweden  sink  beneath  the  wave,  we  thought  of  the  history 
of  that  country  and  of  what  it  has  done  in  the  world.  Quite 
a  few  great  men  and  women  have  gone  forth  from  this  com¬ 
paratively  little  country  and  accomplished  something  in  the 
world.  I  am  thinking  of  the  great  kings  and  statesmen,  of  the 
poets  and  authors,  of  the  men  of  science,  that  have  first  seen 
the  light  in  Sweden.  No  Swede  needs  to  feel  ashamed  of  the  his¬ 
tory  of  Sweden.  Let  us  remind  ourselves  of  what  that  little  coun¬ 
try  has  done  to  secure  liberty  of  conscience  to  the  world.  The 
great  king  Gustavus  Adolphus’  accomplishments  in  the  thirty 
years’  Avar  is  too  well  known  to  need  any  further  mention  in 
this  connection. 

But  at  this  time  we  are  thinking  of  the  relation  of  old 
Sweden  to  our  country,  America.  We  are  pleased  to  state  that 
this  relation  has  been  most  cordial.  Let  us  remind  ourselves 
that  Sweden  was  the  first  country  in  the  world  to  acknowledge 
the  independence  of  the  United  States,  the  Thirteen  Colonies, 
and  show  them  friendship  and  help  in  their  struggle  for 
liberty  long  before  they  were  recognized  by  Great  Britain. 
Benjamin  Franklin  wrote  once  upon  a  time  that  “it  was  a 
pleasure  to  him  to  think,  and  he  hoped  that  it  would  he  re¬ 
membered,  that  Sweden  was  the  first  power  in  Europe  which 

[41] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


had  voluntarily  offered  its  friendship  to  the  United  States 
without  being  solicited.” 

John  Hanson,  of  Swedish  lineage,  was  the  first  President 
of  the  Continental  Congress  and  in  this  capacity  he  was  really 
the  “ first  President  of  the  United  States.”  “Of  all  national¬ 
ities  and  peoples  who  have  immigrated  to  the  United  States, 
no  nation  or  people  has  furnished  in  a  single  person  a  man  who 
has  done  so  great  and  important  service  for  the  people  and 
Government  of  the  United  States  as  John  Ericsson,  the  native 
backwoodsman  of  Sweden.” 

In  this  connection  we  might  remind  ourselves  of  the  verdict 
of  history,  “To  no  nation  or  people  on  earth  has  it  been  given 
to  render  such  great  service  to  humanity  as  that  rendered  by 
the  Swedish  nation  and  people  by  fighting  through  the  Thirty 
Years’  War  to  success  and  thereby  acquiring  and  establishing 
civil  and  religious  liberty  for  mankind.”  When  the  Peace  of 
Westphalia  was  signed  1648,  there  is  an  article  that  has  made 
this  document  very  famous.  It  is  really  the  corner  stone  of 
modern  civilization  and  it  is  only  found  in  the  Swedish  treaty. 
The  fourth  article  of  this  treaty  stipulates,  that  the  peace 
treaty  of  Augsburg  of  1655,  which  established  liberty  of  wor¬ 
ship  for  the  Lutherans,  shall  be  left  inviolate  and  confirmed, 
and  its  provisions  and  benefits  shall  be  extended  to  the  Re¬ 
formed  Church  (The  Calvinists).  It  is  worth  while  to  take 
notice  of  these  things.  We  must  not  in  this  connection  forget 
that  the  Swedes  established  a  colony  on  the  banks  of  the  Dela¬ 
ware  in  1638,  and  the  historian  of  our  beloved  America  has 
told  us  that  “their  coming  has  been  for  the  good  of  the 
country.  ’  ’ 

These  and  many  other  historical  facts  came  to  our  mind  as 
we  saw  Sweden  sink  beneath  the  waves.  May  the  cordial  re¬ 
lation  that  has  existed  between  these  countries  during  the  past 


[42] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


centuries,  ever  continue  and  may  they  be  cemented  together  in 
friendship  and  bonds  of  peace ! 

It  did  not  take  us  long  before  we  came  to  Copenhagen  and 
were  walking  on  Danish  soil.  This  time  I  stopped  very  briefly 
in  the  Capital  of  Denmark  and  went  out  to  Borup  to  see  some 
friends.  Here  I  had  occasion  to  see  the  country  life  in  Den¬ 
mark,  and  I  was  very  much  pleased  with  it.  It  reminded  me 
very  much  of  England.  Every  square  mile  was  so  well  taken 
care  of  and  everything  kept  so  well.  The  country  reminds  us 
also  of  Southern  Sweden.  It  is  level  and  the  soil  is  rich.  In 
this  country  I  observed  quite  a  few  things  that  seemed  rather 
strange  to  me.  We  went  out  in  the  parks  on  Sunday  and  I 
found  to  my  great  surprise,  that  the  women  were  knitting  and 
crocheting,  sewing  or  doing  some  fancy  work.  They  seem  to 
think  this  is  no  work,  and  so  they  go  at  it  very  lively  even  on 
the  Lord’s  day.  The  Danes  must  put  a  very  strange  construc¬ 
tion  on  the  Lord’s  commandment,  “ Remember  the  Sabbath  day 
to  keep  it  holy.”  If  we  think  of  the  word  Sabbath,  which  by 
the  way  is  of  Chaldean  origin,  we  find  that  Sa  means  heart, 
and  bath  means  rest  or  rest  for  the  heart.  If  we  entertain  this 
idea  of  Sabbath,  we  will  find  it  difficult  to  do  what  the  Danes 
and  other  people  in  Europe  are  doing  on  the  Lord’s  day.  But 
let  this  suffice. 

Not  far  from  Copenhagen  is  the  quaint  old  city  of  Roskilde. 
The  sanctuary  there  was  intensely  interesting  to  me,  and  I  went 
through  it  very  carefully,  observing  what  there  was  to  be  seen. 
This  church  holds  the  same  place  in  Denmark  as  the  church 
of  Riddarholmen  holds  in  Sweden.  In  the  Dome  Church  of 
Roskilde  most  of  the  Danish  Kings  are  buried.  Here  is  a  choir 
to  the  memory  of  Saint  Bridget.  In  this  city  a  treaty  of  peace 
was  signed  between  Sweden  and  Denmark  in  1658.  By  the 
treaty  of  Roskilde  Sweden  received  Skane,  Halland,  Blekinge, 

[43] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Buhuslan  with  the  province  of  Trondhjem  and  the  island  of 
Bormholm.  What  changes  have  been  made  regarding  the 
provinces  in  these  countries,  and  how  these  peoples  have  fought 
each  other! 

Returning  to  the  Capital,  I  again  met  my  fellow  tourists. 
We  went  out  to  see  sights  in  this  interesting  city.  This  city  is 
built  on  a  larger  scale  than  any  other  in  the  Scandinavian 
countries.  We  saw  the  Zoological  gardens,  the  Tivoli  and  many 
other  places  of  interest.  The  next  morning  we  went  to  see 
the  Frue  Church.  But  why  go  there?  Well,  my  dear  reader, 
we  wanted  to  see  Thorwaldsen’s  statue  of  Christ  and  his 
apostles.  And  we  saw  them.  In  this  church  is  also  a  baptismal 
fount  which  is  held  by  an  angel  —  everything,  of  course  cut 
out  with  a  master’s  hand. 

I  feel  that  I  am  not  able  to  describe  in  a  proper  way  the 
statue  of  Christ  by  Thorwaldsen.  You  must  see  it  to  get  an 
idea  of  its  beauty.  Above  the  statue  these  words  are  written, 
“This  is  my  beloved  Son,  hear  ye  him!”  Below  these  words  are 
written,  ‘  ‘  Come  unto  me,  ye  all !  ”  Only  a  master ’s  hand  has  been 
able  to  bring  such  an  image  out  of  the  cold  marble.  Everything 
in  this  statue  seems  to  say,  “Come  unto  me!”  The  more  you 
look  at  it,  the  better  you  like  it. 

We  are  here  reminded  of  the  answer  that  a  certain  girl 
gave  ‘to  the  sculptor  Dannecker.  When  the  statue  was  about 
ready,  the  sculptor  asked  the  girl,  who  happened  to  come  to 
see  him  at  work,  whom  the  statue  represented.  The  girl 
answered  that  it  represented  a  great  man.  The  sculptor  was 
not  satisfied  with  this  answer  and  determined  to  continue  his 
work.  After  another  six  years’  steady  work  on  the  statue,  the 
same  girl  came  to  the  sculptor  to  pay  a  visit,  and  he  asked  her 
the  same  question.  Then  the  girl  looked  at  the  statue,  and 
looked  again  and  as  she  stood  there  looking,  the  tears  came 

[44] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


into  her  eyes  and  she  said,  “It  is  He  who  said:  ‘Suffer  little 
children  to  come  unto  me  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.’  ”  The  sculptor  was  satisfied  with  this 
answer,  for  he  then  knew  that  he  had  brought  forth  the 
proper  statue. 

From  Copenhagen  we  went  to  Gjedser.  Here  we  took  the 
ferry  for  Warnamiinde,  Germany.  The  distance  is  about 
twenty-five  miles  and  it  takes  about  two  hours.  It  was  com¬ 
paratively  easy  to  pass  through  the  custom  house.  On  the 
ferry  I  met  a  Danish  professor  who  was  on  a  vacation,  and  as 
.we  were  bound  for  the  same  places,  we  went  together. 


Chapter  III 

IN  GERMANY — THE  LUTHERPLACES 

AS  we  left  the  ferry  at  Warnamiinde,  the  train  was  ready 
to  take  us  to  Berlin. 

In  the  city  of  Berlin  you  need  not  go  very  far,  before  you 
will  see  that  the  Germans  are  soldiers.  Everywhere  you  meet 
with  soldiers  and  barracks.  A  monument  like  the  one  on  the 
Siegesalle  is  enough  to  convince  the  tourist  that  Germany  believes 
in  an  army  and  in  militarism.  As  we  were  parading  the  streets 
of  Berlin  we  saw,  of  course,  some  of  the  dark  sides  of  this  metrop¬ 
olis.  I  sincerely  pity  the  young  boy  and  girl  who  come  to  such 
a  place,  where  snares  of  all  kinds  are  placed  before  their  feet.  In 
no  other  city  of  Europe  did  I  see  what  I  saw  on  the  streets  of 
Berlin.  Poor  youths,  who  enter  here,  where  satan  has  caught 
so  many  in  his  deceptive  traps!  It  makes  one’s  heart  bleed, 
to  see  how  the  young  people,  ignorant  of  the  well-laid  snares, 
are  caught  and  led  in  as  sheep  for  slaughter  into  the  dens  of 
vice  and  destruction. 

But  there  are  not  only  many  things  that  remind  you  of 
sin  and  vice,  of  the  fallen  nature  of  man ;  here  you  will  also  find 
many  things  that  remind  you  of  the  bright  side  of  human  life. 
Powerful  agencies  are  also  at  work  for  the  uplifting  and  the 
ennobling  of  the  race.  No  matter  where  you  go  in  Germany,  you 
are  in  one  way  or  another  reminded  of  its  greatest  son,  that  great 
personality,  who  in  the  sixteenth  century  so  powerfully  aroused 
the  people  of  Germany  and  other  countries  from  their  spiritual 
sleep.  We  refer  to  Doctor  Martin  Luther,  that  miner’s  son  of 

[46] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


Eisleben.  Late  one  evening  I  visited  the  Luther  monument,  or 
as  the  Germans  call  it,  the  Luther  Denkmal.  When  I  got  there 
at  that  late  hour  I  found  one  of  our  tourist  company,  the  Rev. 
P.  Peterson,  studying  the  great  monument,  located  on  New  Mar¬ 
ket  street.  When  you  approach  it  from  this  street,  you  notice 
first  of  all  Ulrich  von  Hutten  and  Frans  von  Sickingen,  who 
are  sitting  with  swords  in  their  hands.  The  reader  is,  perhaps, 
familiar  with  the  fact  that  these  men  were  ready  to  draw  the 
sword  in  the  defense  of  the  evangelical  truth.  At  the  center  of 
the  monument,  seated  somewhat  higher  than  the  rest,  you  see  the 
reformer,  and  at  his  feet  Philip  Melanchthon,  Georg  Spalatin, 
Johan  Reuchlin,  Justus  Jonas,  Kaspar  Krucieger  and  Johann 
Bugenhagen.  All  these  men  helped,  in  their  way,  to  carry  on 
;he  work  of  reformation  in  Germany.  There  we  two  stood  in 
lie  dusk  of  the  evening,  looking  at  this  great  monument  of  the 
nen  who  fought  so  valiantly  for  the  religious  liberty  of  man¬ 
kind. 

But  we  cannot  stay  so  very  long  even  at  this  interesting 
dace.  The  other  places  call  us  onward  and  we  must  go.  August 
Ath  we  are  on  the  way  to  Wittenberg.  About  28  miles  before 
ve  come  to  Wittenberg  we  pass  Jiitterbock.  Our  limited  time  did 
lot  permit  us  to  stop  and  visit  the  place,  but  as  we  passed  by, 
ve  thought  of  the  Dominican  monk,  John  Tezel,  who  came  even 
;o  this  place  to  sell  indulgences.  The  reader  knows,  perhaps, 
vhy  the  monks  were  sent  out  on  this  nefarious  business.  The 
)Omp-loving  pope,  Leo  X,  sat  at  that  time  on  the  pontifical  chair, 
le  wished  to  secure  money,  partly  to  be  able  to  carry  on  war 
gainst  the  Turks,  who  at  that  time  threatened  to  press  onward 
nto  Europe,  and  partly  that  he  might  be  able  to  complete  the 
>t.  Peter’s  church  at  Rome,  and  so  he  ordered  the  sale  of  in- 
lulgences.  The  pope  rented  this  sale  of  indulgences  to  the 
Elector  of  Mainz,  Albrecht.  This  man  then  engaged,  as  gen- 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


eral  agents,  certain  commissaries,  who  should  carry  on  this  work. 
One  of  these  venders  of  indulgences  was  John  Tezel.  He  came 
to  Jiitterbock  in  the  year  1517  and  offered  his  goods  for  sale  as 
a  regular  merchant,  and  there  was  a  great  sale  for  it. 

The  selling  of  indulgences  was  very  common  at  that  time, 
and  it  was  no  wonder  that  a  man  like  Luther,  who  had  found 
the  new  light,  should  come  in  conflict  with  a  man  like  Tezel. 
His  box  of  indulgences,  that  he  used  as  he  was  traveling  through 
Germany,  is  found  in  a  church  at  Jiitterbock.  It  would  have 
been  very  interesting  to  stop  and  see  this  historic  relic,  but  time 
did  not  permit,  so  we  hastened  on  to  Wittenburg,  at  which  place 
we  arrived  in  the  forenoon. 

We  are  then  in  the  historic  city  of  Wittenburg,  where  the 
work  of  reformation  began.  We  need  not  go  into  detail  and 
describe  this  significant  work.  The  world  knows  it,  or  ought  to 
know  it,  by  heart.  Going  into  the  city  from  the  station,  we  find 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  place  where  the  old  Elster  gate  used 
to  be,  to  the  right  of  the  road,  an  oak,  and  around  this  oak  there 
is  a  fence  of  iron.  On  this  oak  there  is  a  tablet  and  on  this  the 
following  words  are  written:  “Here  Martin  Luther  burnt  the 
papal  bull,  December  10th,  1520.  ’  ’  In  the  presence  of  professors 
and  students  of  the  university  Luther  burnt  the  bull,  which 
contained  forty-one  points  in  the  teachings  of  Luther.  Then 
the  pope  sent  another  bull,  which  placed  Luther  and  his  ad¬ 
herents  under  the  ban  of  the  church. 

Entering  the  city,  we  find  to  the  left  of  the  street  the 
Augustinian  Convent.  This  is  located  in  the  eastern  part  of 
the  city.  We  went  in,  of  course,  to  see  the  cloister,  and  came 
first  into  an  open  place,  or  court;  and  as  you  enter,  straight 
ahead,  on  the  other  side  of  the  court,  is  the  “Luther  Stube.” 
On  the  wall  is  a  picture  of  the  reformer  and  underneath  it  the 
following  words  are  written:  “Here  lived  Dr.  Martin  Luther 

[48] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


from  1508  to  1546.”  We  rang  the  bell  and,  accompanied  by  the 
guide,  went  up  into  the  second  story,  where  we  found  the  rooms 
in  which  Luther  and  his  dear  Kathe  used  to  live. 

In  one  of  the  rooms  was  the  pulpit  in  which  Luther  used  to 
preach,  and  in  another,  many  of  his  books,  manuscripts,  rings, 
looking-glasses  and  other  interesting  objects.  In  a  large  room, 
used  as  a  lecture  hall,  is  the  railing  of  the  platform  in  the  uni¬ 
versity,  where  the  professors  used  to  lecture.  Passing  through 
the  historic  rooms,  we  thought  of  the  man  who  lived  here  and 
labored  to  be  such  a  blessing  for  mankind.  Think  of  the  battles 
that  this  man  fought  in  these  rooms !  Think  of  the  joy  that  he 
had  as  he  discovered  the  truth  of  the  living  God ! 

It  is  very  strange  that  anything  that  is  good  and  of  real 
service  to  mankind  cannot  be  brought  about  without  struggles 
from  without  and  from  within.  It  looked  very  foolish  before  the 
world  that  a  poor  and  insignificant  monk  should  dare  to  go  to 
war  with  such  an  organized  army  as  the  Catholic  Church  was 
then,  but  it  was  the  Lord  of  Hosts  who  supported  His  servant 
and  gave  him  strength  to  win  one  victory  after  another.  Here 
we  are  reminded  of  what  Luther  wrote  at  one  time, — words 
which  are  found  at  the  gate  to  the  Augustinian  Convent:  “Nie- 
mand  lasse  den  Glauben  daran  faren,  dasz  Gott  durch  ihn  eine 
grosze  That  will.”  (No  one  should  let  his  faith  go,  because  God 
wishes  to  do  a  great  thing  through  him).  At  the  same  place  we 
read:  “Ich  habe  einmal  das  Papstes  Decret  allhier  zu  Witten¬ 
berg  verbrannt  und  Ich  wolle’s  wohl  noch  einmal  verbrennen.” 
(I  have  once  here  at  Wittenberg  burnt  the  decree  of  the  Pope 
and  I  can  burn  it  once  more). 

From  the  Luther  house  it  is  only  a  short  distance  to 
the  house  of  Melanchthon.  It  is  located  on  the  same  street,  and 
the  interior  is  something  like  Luther’s.  Here  lived  the  great 
man  who  by  right  is  called  the  teacher  of  Germany,  and  who, 


[49] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


because  of  his  gifts  and  Christian  principles,  gave  such  a  power¬ 
ful  support  to  Luther  in  the  work  of  reformation.  On  the  other 
side  of  the  street  the  church  is  located,  where  Bugenhagen  used 
to  preach.  The  church  looks  quite  old,  and  there  are  many 
memories  connected  with  it  from  the  time  of  the  reformation. 
Not  far  from  the  church  is  the  house  of  pastor  Bugenhagen.  I 
rapped  at  the  door  and  was  admitted.  It  was  a  treat  to  see  the 
place  where  this  good  and  faithful  man  lived  and  labored.  On 
an  open  place  near  the  old  city  church  is  a  little  chapel,  only 
32x18.  In  this  chapel  the  reformers  used  to  hold  their  meetings. 

We  went  back  to  the  street  again  and  continued  our  wander¬ 
ings  and  soon  came  to  the  Castle  Church  in  the  western  end  of 
the  city.  This  church  is  joined  to  the  old  castle  and  hence  it  is 
called  Castle  Church.  The  history  of  this  church  is  intensely 
interesting.  It  was  on  the  door  of  this  church  that  the  reformer 
nailed  the  ninety-five  theses  against  the  sale  of  indulgences, 
the  31st  of  October,  1517,  at  noon,  the  day  before  All  Saints  day. 

The  contents  of  these  theses  spread  with  a  wonderful  rapid¬ 
ity.  They  kindled  a  flame  and  many  were  warmed  by  this  fire. 
In  this  church  the  gospel  was  preached  in  its  purity.  Here  the 
communion  was  celebrated  and  both  wine  and  bread  were  given 
to  communicants.  From  this  church  the  altars  and  images  were 
thrown  out  on  the  street,  while  Luther  was  at  Wartburg.  Here 
he  preached  a  whole  week  after  his  return  from  Wartburg.  By 
these  sermons  he  was  able  to  quell  the  uproar  of  the  anabaptists, 
and  in  them  he  showed  wherein  true  liberty  consists.  The  true 
teachers  of  the  gospel  gathered  themselves  around  Luther,  and 
the  anabaptists  had  to  flee. 

The  church  was  built  in  honor  of  the  Virgin  Mary  in  the 
thirteenth  century.  It  looks  very  antiquated.  On  the  walls  we 
observe  the  pictures  of  the  apostles,  Andrew  and  James.  This 
inscription  dates  from  the  olden  times,  when  the  saints  were 


[50] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


worshiped  in  this  church.  This  is  evident  from  inscriptions  like 
this:  Holy  Andrew,  pray  for  us ;  holy  James,  pray  for  us.” 
On  the  door  the  theses  of  Luther  are  cast  in  metal.  They  are 
written  in  Latin  in  six  columns,  three  on  each  door.  Around 
the  theses  there  are  inscriptions  of  nine  boys,  who  are  singing. 
It  is  well  known  that  Luther  very  early  made  use  of  singing, 
and  the  Lutheran  church  has  been  styled  the  singing  church 
because  of  it.  The  evangelical  song  has  proved  itself  very  power¬ 
ful  in  the  spread  of  the  gospel.  But  someone  may  ask :  ‘  ‘  How 
does  this  building  look?”  It  is  not  a  magnificent  structure,  by 
any  means.  It  dwindles  into  insignificance  in  comparison  with 
St.  PauPs  Cathedral  at  London  and  St.  Peter’s  Church  at  Rome. 
It  is  much  smaller  and  very  plain.  In  this  respect  the  words 
of  the  apostle  should  be  fulfilled :  ‘  ‘  God  hath  chosen  the  foolish 
things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  wise;  and  God  hath  chosen 
the  weak  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  things  which  are 
mighty.  ”  (1  Cor.  1:27). 

On  the  north  side,  there  are  six  windows  with  carved  arches 
above.  The  church  is,  to  some  extent,  built  into  the  castle,  which 
is  near  by.  It  was  Frederick  the  Wise  who  built  this  sanctuary. 
Let  us  enter  this  wonderful  sanctuary  and  take  a  good  look  at 
the  interior.  We  enter  on  the  north  side,  through  the  very  door 
upon  which  the  theses  were  nailed.  Right  before  us  is  an  aisle 
which  crosses  the  main  aisle.  Having  read  so  much  about  this 
edifice  it  is  no  wonder  that  we  enter  this  church  building  with 
a  peculiar  feeling.  We  thought  of  that  man,  who  in  the  provi¬ 
dence  of  God  was  destined  to  awaken  the  people  of  Germany 
and  let  a  new  and  bright  light  shine,  that  they  might  find  the 
way.  On  the  cross  aisle,  near  the  pulpit,  is  the  grave  of  Martin 
Luther,  and  on  the  other  side  is  the  last  resting  place  of  Philip 
Melanchthon.  On  Luther’s  grave  these  words  are  written: 
“Here  lies  the  body  of  Martin  Luther,  Doctor  of  Theology,  who 

[51] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


died  at  Eisleben,  Feb.  18th,  1546,  in  an  age  of  63  years,  2  months 
and  10  days.”  On  the  grave  of  Melanchthon  these  words  are 
written :  ‘  ‘  Here  lies  the  body  of  the  renowned  Philip  Melanchthon, 
who  died  in  this  town,  April  19th,  1560,  in  an  age  of  63  years, 
2  months  and  2  days.” 

From  there  we  proceeded  to  Halle.  We  went  there  to  see 
the  1 1  Frankestiftungen, 7  7  and  for  no  other  reason,  and  certainly 
this  was  reason  enough,  since  these  institutions  are  known  all 
over  the  world.  As  we  came  to  the  great  orphan  home,  we  saw 
over  the  door,  by  the  eagle,  these  words :  ‘ 1  But  they  that  wait 
upon  the  Lord  shall  renew  their  strength,  they  shall  mount  up 
with  wings  as  eagles,  .  .  .”  (Is.  40:31.)  We  went  into  the  book 
store.  It  is  quite  large  and  spreads  Christian  literature  over  the 
land.  Following  a  guide,  we  looked  through  the  building,  which 
is  a  very  large  one,  indeed.  From  the  roof  we  had  a  splendid 
view  over  the  Saale  river,  which  passes  through  the  city  and 
out  over  a  good  portion  of  Germany. 

Perhaps  the  reader  is  familiar  with  the  work  of  August 
Herman  Franke.  He  was  a  wonderful  man  in  many  ways.  The 
work  which  he  did  here  at  Halle  had  a  very  small  beginning, 
but  thus  it  has  always  been  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  With  two 
empty  hands  he  went  to  work  in  the  name  of  God  and  gathered 
some  poor  and  needy  children,  who  were  in  need  of  protection 
and  care.  In  1698  he  succeeded  so  well  that  he  could  lay  the 
foundation  of  his  orphan  home,  and  from  this  small  beginning 
the  wonderful  institution  sprang  up  and  became  a  source  of 
blessing  to  the  church  of  Christ.  When  he  was  in  need  of  help, 
in  money  or  building  material,  he  went  to  his  closet  of  prayer, 
and  God  did  not  let  this  faithful  servant  call  in  vain  for  help. 
Often  his  prayers  were  answered  in  a  most  remarkable  manner. 

From  the  University  of  Halle  many  young  men  went  forth 
to  spread  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  thus  Halle  became  the  center 

[52] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


of  a  spiritual  work,  that  meant  so  much  for  the  kingdom  of  God. 
From  this  city  missionaries  went  forth  to  India  and  America, 
and,  of  course,  to  many  countries  in  Europe. 

Halle  became  the  center  of  pietism,  and  the  orphan  home 
here  is  a  glorious  monument  to  the  pietistic  movement  in  Ger¬ 
many.  Franke  was  a  pietist  in  the  very  best  sense  of  the  word. 
Dedicated  to  God  in  faithful  prayer  and  child-like  faith,  he 
sought  above  all  the  salvation  of  immortal  souls.  It  is  very 
instructive  to  see  that  the  Christian  love  and  faith  has  so  many 
worthy  monuments  here  and  there,  erected  to  the  honor  and 
glory  of  the  Master.  We  think  of  a  Miller  in  England,  a  Hud¬ 
son  Taylor  in  China,  who  by  their  faith  and  work  have  demon¬ 
strated  what  God  can  do  through  weak  and  frail  men. 

These  men  followed  the  same  method  as  August  Herman 
Franke.  When  the  treasury  was  empty  they  did  not  think  of 
arranging  all  sorts  of  questionable  socials  and  attractions, 
which  a  fallen  and  faithless  church  has  arranged  to  secure 
money  for  the  treasury.  No,  these  men  went  into  their  closet 
and  placed  their  need  before  the  mercy-seat  of  Christ  in 
prayer,  and  they  did  not  trust  in  vain  in  the  promises.  Thus 
Franke,  Miller,  Hudson  and  many  others  carried  on  their  work, 
and  how  often  do  we  not  find  that  the  Lord  keeps  his  promises 
to  answer  the  prayer  of  an  earnest  man. 

Our  present  age  would  have  a  great  deal  to  learn  from 
these  men  along  the  lines  of  trust  in  God,  and  the  sooner  we 
follow  their  methods,  the  better  for  our  church  and  its  many 
needs.  Did  not  the  apostle  James  say:  “Ye  have  nothing, 
because  ye  ask  not.  Ye  ask  and  receive  not,  because  ye  ask 
amiss.”  (James  4:  2-3). 

At  present  there  are  3,500  children  at  the  elementary 
school  of  the  institution  and  about  500  of  these  live  in  the  old 
buildings.  There  are  118  teachers  at  the  school.  As  we  passed 

[53] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


through  some  of  the  rooms,  we  saw  a  number  of  children  sitting 
by  tables,  eating  dry  pieces  of  bread,  and  they  looked  so  lonely. 

As  we  returned  to  the  station,  we  saw  at  the  end  of  the 
alley  between  the  buildings,  a  statue  of  the  founder  of  the 
institution.  It  is  very  refreshing  to  see  such  institutions. 
They  prove  to  the  world  that  there  is  something  in  Christian 
love ;  it  is  a  living  reality  in  this  cold  and  dreary  world. 

Our  time  is  limited  and  we  remind  ourselves  that  at  the 
station  the  train  is  waiting  for  us  and  we  must  speed  on  to 
Eisleben  and  try  to  see  this  town  also,  ere  darkness  sets  in. 
The  country  between  Halle  and  Eisleben  is  very  idyllic.  At 
seven  P.  M.  our  train  pulls  in  at  the  Eisleben  station.  It  was 
somewhat  late,  but  what  could  we  do?  We  must  see  the  town 
where  Martin  Luther  was  born  and  where  he  also  died.  The 
city  is  located  partly  in  a  valley  and  partly  on  adjoining  hills. 
As  we  arrived  we  saw  some  mines  to  the  right  of  the  railroad, 
and  some  of  them  are  still  in  operation.  At  this  time  we  must 
remind  ourselves  why  the  parents  of  Luther  came  to  this  place. 
They  were  poor  and  sought  work  in  these  mines,  and  thus 
Luther  became  a  miner’s  son. 

But  we  must  see  the  house  where  the  reformer  was  born, 
or  the  1 1  Geburthaus.  ”  It  is  located  on  the  Luther  street,  about 
the  middle  of  the  town.  When  we  came  there  it  was  late  and 
the  shadows  began  to  fall.  The  old  lady  who  showed  us  the 
rooms  in  the  inn  had  to  kindle  a  light,  so  that  we  could  see  the 
rooms  clearly.  We  reminded  ourselves  that  the  house  where 
he  was  born  was  at  that  time  a  hotel,  and  it  seems  that  they 
lived  in  this  place  to  begin  with.  There  were  two  rooms  that 
were  at  the  disposal  of  the  family  and  one  was  fairly  large, 
but  the  other  was  quite  small.  In  this  dwelling  was  born  to  the 
miner’s  family  a  son,  on  the  10th  of  November,  1583,  one  hour 
before  midnight.  The  pious  parents  brought  him  to  St.  Peter’s 

[54] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Church,  which  is  located  near  by,  to  be  baptized.  When  we  had 
seen  that  Geburthaus  and  the  swan,  which  is  kept  there,  and 
some  other  objects  of  interest,  we  went,  of  course,  to  see  the 
church.  It  is  still  preserved  and  it  looks  very  quaint  and  old. 

From  this  place  we  went  to  see  the  house  where  Martin 
Luther  died.  It  is  located  on  Market  Street,  near  the  St. 
Andrew’s  Church.  When  we  came  there  it  was  quite  dark 
and  the  door  to  the  house  was  locked,  so  that  we  could  not 
get  in.  In  the  upper  story  of  this  building  he  drew  his  last 
breath,  and  when  he  was  asked  if  he  would  die  in  the  faith 
he  had  been  preaching,  he  answered:  “Yes” — his  very  last 
word.  He  died  February  18th,  1546,  at  two  o’clock  in  the 
morning.  The  reader  will  remember  his  last  hours  as  por¬ 
trayed  in  the  church  history,  how  with  hope  and  Christian 
faith  he  held  out  to  the  end. 

From  Eisleben  we  went  to  Leipzig,  the  largest  book- 
market  in  the  world,  and  from  there  we  proceeded  to  Liitzen. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  relate  what  took  place  at  Liitzen  the  6th 
of  November,  1632.  The  whole  world  knows  it,  and  every 
Swede  knows  it  by  heart  from  childhood.  Here  is  a  battle¬ 
field  where  the  greatest  son  of  Northland  fought  and  bled, 
conquered  and  died,  but  he  died  victoriously.  With  80,000 
valiant  soldiers  he  gave  his  life  on  the  soil  of  Germany  that 
the  world  might  have  the  liberty  of  conscience.  Even  a 
Swedish  American  walks  along  this  battlefield  with  the  greatest 
emotion. 

Here  it  was  that  the  Swedish  king  fought  so  bravely  with 
his  noble  troops.  The  army  of  Wallenstein,  which  had  taken  up 
their  position  at  Liitzen,  heard  in  the  early  morning  how  the 
Swedes  sang  their  war  song,  “A  Mighty  Fortress  Is  Our 
God,  ...”  and  this  shows  where  they  sought  their  strength. 
It  became  necessary  for  the  Swedish  army  to  pass  over  the 

[55] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


brook  Flossgraben,  which  they  then  had  on  their  right  side, 
and  further  to  the  east  they  had  Miihlgraben,  a  brook  of  the 
same  size.  The  armies  came  together  at  the  road  that  leads 
to  the  west  from  Liitzen.  King  Gustaf  Adolphus  fell  a  little 
to  the  north  of  the  road,  where  it  curved  at  that  time.  The 
army  of  the  enemy  fled  away  from  the  battlefield,  and  the 
Swedish  army  remained  on  the  field  with  their  fallen  king 
over  night.  Wallenstein’s  flight  proves  who  won  the  day. 

Who  can  measure  the  amount  of  blood  that  flowed  here, 
and  the  value  of  this  victory  for  the  race !  A  thankful  pos¬ 
terity  has  erected  buildings  on  this  plain  in  honor  of  the  fallen 
heroes.  Here  is  the  “Gustaf  Adolph”  monument  and  a  chapel 
built  by  the  Hon.  Consul  Ekman  of  SAveden.  On  the  monument 
these  words  are  written:  “Faith  is  the  victory  that  conquers 
the  world.”  Here  fell  Gustavus  Adolphus  Nov.  6th,  1632.  He 
carried  on  the  wars  of  the  Lord.  “For  God  has  not  given  us 
the  spirit  of  fear.”  (2  Tim.  1 :7.)  On  a  slab  near  the  monument 
these  words  are  inscribed:  “Gustavus  Adolphus  fell  here  in 
the  struggle  for  liberty  of  conscience,  November  6th,  1632.” 

The  journey  to  Liitzen  was  very  pleasant,  and  how  could 
it  be  otherwise?  We  are  on  historical  grounds  and  remind  our¬ 
selves  of  the  mighty  deeds  of  our  fathers.  And  yet  there  was 
something  that  made  us  feel  somewhat  downhearted.  It  was 
Sunday,  but  nevertheless  we  found  a  large  number  of  people 
harvesting  in  those  very  fields  which  had  been  moistened  by  the 
blood  of  the  Swedish  soldiers.  In  this  town  there  were  quite  a 
few  women  sitting  along  the  streets  knitting,  and  we  thought 
that  this  way  of  keeping  the  Lord’s  day  was  rather  strange  to 
us,  Avho  came  from  the  New  World. 

We  left  Liitzen  on  the  afternoon  train  and  went  back  to 
Leipzig,  saw  the  Augustus  place  and  the  university,  made  a 
little  tour  in  the  “learned  city”  and  went  back  to  our  hotel, 

[56] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Du  Nord.  The  following  morning  saw  us  on  the  way  to  Erfrut. 
There  are  many  Luther  places  to  be  seen.  We  saw  them,  of 
course.  Here  we  saw  the  university  in  which  Martin  Luther 
registered  as  a  student  in  1501.  There  he  spent  quite  a  few 
years,  manifesting  his  ability  as  a  student.  “The  whole  uni¬ 
versity  admired  him,”  said  Melanchthon. 

Luther  was  18  years  of  age  when  he  entered  the  university. 
When  he  had  been  there  two  years  he  found  to  his  great  sur¬ 
prise  in  the  university  library  a  Latin  Bible.  Never  before  had 
he  seen  a  whole  Bible.  Opening  it,  his  eyes  first  fell  on  the 
story  of  Hannah,  the  mother  of  Samuel.  Very  much  delighted 
with  this  story  in  this  wonderful  book,  he  went  back  to  his  dear 
book  again  and  again.  We  all  remember  the  consequences  of 
this  wonderful  discovery.  A  new  world  lay  before  his  eyes  in 
this  volume,  and  he  was  eager  to  secure  more  knowledge.  Having 
found  this  remarkable  book,  he  was  determined  to  give  this 
treasure  to  the  people,  and  he  did  so.  Reformation  was  hidden 
in  this  book. 

In  1505  he  became  Master  of  Arts,  but  his  eyes  had  not  as 
yet  been  spiritually  opened.  Ere  long,  however,  this  happened 
in  the  convent  cell  at  Erfrut  and  later,  on  the  Pilate’s  stair  at 
Rome.  We  went  to  see  the  old  university  building.  It  is  old 
and  looks  it,  too.  The  walls  are  built  of  rough  hewn  stones  of 
different  sizes.  On  the  wall  by  the  door  we  read  these  words: 
“The  University  building  was  erected  in  1372,  restored  1512 
and  1692,  University  building  till  1816.”  We  wished  to  see  the 
building  inside,  rang  the  bell  and  asked  permission  to  do  so. 
We  went  into  the  chapel  and  saw  the  very  room  where  the 
reformer  had  been  sitting  many  a  day,  drinking  from  the  foun¬ 
tain  of  knowledge.  This  building  is  now  used  as  a  high  school, 
and  they  were  having  recitations  in  some  of  the  rooms. 

While  pursuing  his  studies  here,  he  came  to  the  conclusion 

[57] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


that  he  should  enter  the  cloister  and  he  did  so.  The  immediate 
cause  for  entering  was  that  he  was  visiting  his  parents  at  Mans- 
feld,  and  during  this  journey  he  was  nearly  killed  by  lightning. 
Inviting  his  friends  to  a  plain  supper,  he  makes  known  his 
intentions  to  them,  and  although  they  try  to  dissuade  him,  he 
fulfills  his  vow,  and  enters  the  Augustinian  convent,  which  is 
quite  near  the  university.  As  yet  he  had  no  Bible,  but  he  took 
two  books  with  him  to  his  cloister  cell — Plato  and  Virgil.  Late 
one  dark  evening,  the  17th  of  August,  1505,  he  raps  at  the  con¬ 
vent  door  and  is  admitted.  He  was  then  21  years  old. 

We  wished  to  see  the  convent,  of  course,  and  the  Luther 
cell  particularly.  This  is  located  near  the  church  where  he 
used  to  attend  services,  and  where  he  preached  later  on  in  life. 
The  cloister  is  located  on  the  Augustinian  Street,  a  very 
crooked  and  narrow  one.  We  rang  the  bell  and  were  admitted. 
A  young  girl  took  us  up  to  the  second  story  in  the  southwest 
corner  of  the  building.  Here  is  the  historical  room.  It  is  small, 
only  12x9,  has  only  one  window  towards  the  south  and  is  quite 
dark  and  gloomy  within. 

The  floor  is  of  square  stone  tablets.  Many  a  day  the  stern 
monk  has  walked  on  these  stones,  sighing  for  a  brighter  day.  In 
the  chamber  we  found  his  flute  and  its  cover,  a  Bible,  a  chair,  and 
a  table.  There  was  a  fire  in  this  building  in  1872,  and  it  became 
somewhat  damaged.  In  the  corner  to  the  right  as  we  enter  is 
kept  the  door  on  which  he  rapped,  that  evening  he  was  admitted. 
In  the  window  was  another  Bible,  but  it  was  of  a  later  date.  We 
sat  down  in  turn  in  the  chair  and  sought  to  place  ourselves  in  the 
position  of  the  monk  as  he  strove  for  light  and  liberty. 

If  the  walls  of  this  cell  could  speak  and  tell  the  story,  what 
would  they  not  relate?  Think  of  the  battle  of  a  soul,  trying  to 
come  to  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  Son  of  Man!  Here  the 
reformation  took  place  in  the  heart  of  Martin  Luther  and,  had 

[  58  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


there  been  no  reformation  in  his  heart,  there  would  have  been 
no  reformation  in  the  church.  It  was  necessary  that  Luther 
should  become  a  new  man  before  he  could  bring  forth  a  new 
creation  in  the  church  of  Christ. 

Returning  to  the  station,  we  lingered  for  some  time  at  a 
Luther  statue.  We  observed  that  on  the  pedestal  these  words 
were  written:  “I  shall  not  die  but  live.”  (Ps.  118:17.)  On 
one  side  is  an  inscription  of  a  young  man  playing  on  a  flute ;  on 
the  other,  of  a  man  resting  on  his  knees  by  an  old  man,  and 
on  his  knee  lies  an  open  Bible.  Beside  this  there  is  an  inscription 
of  a  young  man  stepping  out  of  a  carriage.  All  this  represents 
events  in  the  life  of  the  reformer. 

Leaving  Erfrut  we  went  to  Eisenach.  The  train  passed 
through  very  scenic  country.  The  land  became  more  and  more 
rolling,  and  wooded  as  we  proceeded  southward.  Here  and  there 
on  the  hills  we  noticed  castles  or  ruins  of  castles  from  the  Middle 
Ages.  At  ten  o  ’clock  we  were  at  Eisenach,  a  city  of  many  Luther 
reminiscences.  This  town  has  22,000  inhabitants  and  we  deter¬ 
mined  to  stop  here  for  some  time  and  see  the  town.  At  the 
Hotel  Tiiringer  Hof  we  found  a  very  good  lodging-place. 

First  of  all  we  went  to  the  castle  of  Wartburg.  It  took  us 
about  twenty  minutes  to  get  to  the  top,  six  hundred  feet  above 
the  city.  The  journey  to  the  top  is  a  very  agreeable  one. 

A  great  many  tourists  went  through  the  castle  while  we 
were  there,  and  we  saw  the  chapel  where  Martin  Luther  used 
to  preach  when  at  Wartburg.  As  we  returned  we  saw  in  the 
Anti-Fortress  the  Luther  room.  It  was  this  room  in  particular 
that  was  the  object  of  my  journey  to  Wartburg. 

The  room  is  not  very  large  and  has  two  windows  on  the 
west  side.  When  one  enters,  there  is,  to  the  right,  a  bedstead, 
and  near  the  bed  in  the  other  corner  is  an  iron  oven,  and  above 
the  door  is  the  armor  which  Luther  wore  when  he  was  here. 


[59] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


To  the  left  of  the  door  is  a  chair,  and  a  very  quaint-looking 
cupboard,  and  by  the  wall  right  opposite  the  door  is  a  table 
over  which  a  bookshelf  is  fastened  to  the  wall.  The  walls  are 
covered  with  rough  planed  boards.  In  this  chamber  you  also 
find  the  picture  of  Luther,  to  the  right  the  picture  of  his  father, 
and  to  the  left  the  picture  of  his  mother. 

In  this  room  he  translated  the  New  Testament  and  wrote 
some  of  his  sermons.  All  this  is,  of  course,  well  known  to  the 
reader.  But  we  should  have  said  something  about  the  ink  spot 
on  the  wall  behind  the  oven.  The  story  of  this  ink  spot  does 
not  seem  to  have  historic  grounds.  But  there  is  another  throwing 
of  ink,  which  is  true,  and  that  is  the  printer’s  ink  used  in  the 
publication  of  his  books  for  the  enlightenment  of  mankind.  Luther 
made  good  use  of  the  printer’s  ink  to  propagate  the  teachings  of 
the  Scripture. 

To  this  place  Luther  came  and  found  a  safe  refuge  under 
the  protecting  hand  of  Frederick  the  Wise.  What  memories 
from  past  church  history  do  we  find  here  at  this  fortress!  We 
enjoyed  ourselves  very  much  here  until  the  evening  came  and 
we  had  to  depart.  As  we  left  we  looked  into  the  chamber  of 
arms.  Here  we  saw  all  kinds  of  weapons  of  warfare  from  the 
Middle  Ages.  When  one  beholds  this  terrible  armor  which  was 
used  by  the  warriors  at  that  time,  it  seems  as  though  we  hear 
the  bloody  combat  of  antiquity. 

Thus  we  had  seen  Wartburg,  or  the  “Patmos  of  Luther,’’ 
and  never  shall  we  forget  the  interesting  places  which  we  saw 
that  afternoon.  We  took  in  the  whole  vicinity  of  the  neighboring 
regions,  and  scanned  with  our  field  glass  this  historic  ground 
round  about  Wartburg.  It  is  certainly  worth  while  to  visit 
this  place.  On  our  way  to  the  hotel,  we  went  to  the  house  which 
once  belonged  to  the  kind-hearted  woman,  Ursula  Cotta.  We 
do  not  need  to  remind  the  reader  that  it  was  outside  this  house, 


[60] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


that  little  Luther  as  a  young  student  sang  for  bread.  This 
house  is  located  on  Market  Street,  and  looks  very  rickety.  To 
our  surprise,  the  Germans  use  this  house  as  a  beer  house  or 
saloon.  We  entered,  not  to  drink  beer,  but  to  see  the  door  before 
which  Luther,  with  other  boys,  sang  for  bread.  There  in  the 
corner  stands  the  door,  and  it  looks  very  old  and  quaint.  We 
certainly  do  not  think  it  proper  to  use  such  a  landmark  in  the 
history  of  this  man  for  a  “beer-stube.”  When  Luther  was  ad¬ 
mitted  into  this  house,  his  financial  condition  was  secured,  and 
he  could  now  go  on  with  his  studies  uninterrupted,  and  so  he  did. 
When  this  little  poor  boy  had  become  the  light  of  his  age  he 
received  a  son  of  this  family  into  his  house  and  admitted  him 
to  his  table.  In  this  way  he  wished  to  return  the  favor  which 
Ursula  Cotta  had  bestowed  upon  him.  When  he  thought  of  this 
godfearing  woman,  who  gave  him  bread  in  his  hour  of  need,  he 
said:  “On  earth  is  nothing  more  lovely  than  a  woman’s  heart 
in  which  piety  dwells.  ’ 9 

As  we  returned  from  the  house  of  Ursula  Cotta,  we  met  a 
little  boy,  who  asked  in  a  very  shy  manner  for  a  gift,  that  he 
might  get  a  lodging-place  for  the  night.  We  thought  of  Luther, 
who,  centuries  ago,  just  a  few  blocks  from  here,  was  begging 
for  bread,  and  we  gave  him  some  money  for  a  bed.  Who  knows 
what  God  can  do  with  such  little  boys? 

The  following  morning  found  us  early  on  the  train,  bound 
for  Coburg.  Why  did  we  go  to  Coburg?  And  why  ascend  to  the 
fortress  on  the  hill,  the  “region  of  the  birds?”  The  answer  is 
this:  It  was  a  diet  in  Augsburg,  1530.  The  evangelical  Chris¬ 
tians  in  Germany  were  called  upon  by  the  Emperor  of  Germany, 
Charles  V,  to  give  an  account  of  themselves  as  to  their  teachings 
in  Christianity.  They  did  so  the  25th  of  June  that  year.  Luther 
did  not  dare  to  go  further,  because  the  ban  of  the  Catholic  church 
was  upon  him  and  he  was  not  safe,  if  he  went  out  of  the  dominion 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


of  Frederick  the  Wise.  Here  at  Coburg  he  was  protected,  but 
not  further  south.  He  remained  here  about  six  months.  The 
diet  was  called  for  an  earlier  date,  but  did  not  meet  till  June. 
During  this  delay  the  evangelical  Christians  had  a  chance  to 
prepare  their  confession  and  get  it  in  the  matchless  form  in 
which  it  is  given  to  the  church.  It  might  be  said  that  the  con¬ 
tents  of  this  Augsburg  Confession  are  from  Luther,  but  the 
form  is  that  of  Melanchthon. 

While  Luther  was  here  at  Coburg,  he  translated  some  of 
the  Prophets  and  the  Psalms  of  David.  From  this  place  he 
wrote  letters  to  Melanchthon,  letters  full  of  hope  and  con¬ 
solation.  He  also  wrote  to  others  that  attended  the  diet.  Some 
have  thought  that  he  now  wrote  the  hymn,  “A  mighty  Fortress 
Is  Our  God,”  but  this  cannot  be  proven.  According  to  others, 
he  wrote  this  psalm  before  he  came  to  Coburg.  Later  writers 
seem  to  have  this  idea.  I  leave  this  matter  for  scholars  to  settle. 
It  was,  however,  a  great  pleasure  for  me  to  pay  a  visit  to  this 
historic  place.  It  is  also  interesting  to  see  the  old  relics  kept 
here,  such  as  weapons  of  warfare,  chariots  and  old  garments,  etc. 

We  did  not  stop  here  very  long.  We  passed  through  the 
rooms  very  hurriedly  and  then  went  down  to  the  station.  A 
very  heavy  rain  shower  fell,  but  we  hastened  onward  to  our  goal. 

As  we  came  to  the  station  the  train  was  ready  to  depart. 
Here  I  left  my  fellow-tourists.  They  went  to  Munich  and  I  to 
Niirnberg.  On  a  fast  train  I  soon  came  to  the  boundaries  of 
Bavaria.  This  country  looks  very  much  like  Tiiringia.  Late  at 
night  I  arrived  at  Niirnberg  and  registered  at  Bamburger  Hof. 
I  am  now  in  Niirnberg,  so  rich  in  historical  memories.  The  city 
lies  on  a  plain  and  has  300,000  inhabitants.  In  this  city  the 
religious  peace  was  concluded  July  23,  1532,  The  reader  will 
recollect  that  the  resolution  of  the  Diet  of  Augsburg  was  a  decla¬ 
ration  of  war  against  the  evangelical  Christians.  They  concluded 


[62] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


a  union  of  defense  in  Schmalcalden,  1531,  the  object  of  which 
was  to  assist  each  other  against  any  attack  on  the  Protestants 
with  the  object  of  surprising  them.  The  Emperor  was  not  ready 
for  such  an  energetic  decision  from  the  side  of  the  Protestants, 
and  concluded  the  peace  referred  to  above.  This  peace  gave 
liberty  of  conscience  to  the  evangelical  party  until  a  council 
could  be  held  to  settle  this  question  or  the  contention  between 
the  Protestants  and  the  Catholics. 

But  the  Pope  and  the  Emperor  were  not  willing  to  have 
such  a  council,  because  it  might  infringe  upon  their  idea  of 
supremacy.  The  Emperor  was  compelled  to  conclude  peace, 
however,  because  the  Turks  pressed  him  very  hard,  threatening 
to  enter  into  his  extensive  empire,  so  that  he  had  no  other  alter¬ 
native,  as  he  needed  all  his  subjects  to  fight  them. 

I  did  not  stay  long  in  Niirnberg,  and  went  on  to  Augsburg. 
On  the  way  I  passed  Noerdlingen.  This  palace  has  its  sad 
memories,  especially  for  the  Protestants  in  the  Thirty  Years’  War. 
We  recollect  that  it  was  on  these  plains  that  the  Protestants 
suffered  a  severe  defeat  in  1634.  Gustaf  Hoorn  and  Duke  Bern- 
hard  came  to  their  assistance,  but  the  enemy  was  too  strong  for 
them  and  the  Protestants  had  to  flee.  Bernhard  sought  his 
safety  by  flight,  and  Hoorn  was  taken  captive  and  held  in 
prison  for  eight  years.  Not  a  single  Swedish  regiment  partook 
in  this  battle.  The  outcome  could  have  been  different  if  the 
Swedish  army  had  had  a  chance  to  try  its  strength  at  the  enemy 
in  this  conflict. 

We  are  now  on  the  way  to  Augsburg.  This  part  of  Ger¬ 
many  reminds  us  a  great  deal  of  certain  parts  of  central  Sweden. 
Here  are  valleys  and  hills  and  in  some  places  mountains,  cov¬ 
ered  with  fir  trees,  with  sandy  heaths  in  between.  It  is  harvest 
time  and  I  see  all  along  the  railroad  how  busy  men  and  women 
are  harvesting  the  crops  on  the  fields.  I  saw  no  self-binders, 

[63] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


but  the  men  were  cutting  the  grain  and  the  women  were  binding 
it.  Further  south  in  Bavaria  I  saw  them  haul  in  the  grain; 
and  they  used  cows  instead  of  horses.  It  looked  a  little  peculiar 
to  an  American.  I  had  seen  nothing  of  the  kind  before. 

While  I  observed  these  things  from  the  car  window,  and 
especially  how  the  women  were  doing  all  kinds  of  work  in  the 
field,  I  thought  of  the  condition  of  the  woman  in  America. 
Surely  a  golden  era  has  arisen  in  the  New  World  in  regard  to 
the  women.  The  condition  of  the  women  in  America  is  so 
marked  in  comparison  with  other  countries  that  America  may 
truly  be  called  the  “ Promised’ 7  land  for  women,  because  in  no 
other  country  in  the  world  is  the  woman  enjoying  such  privileges 
as  there. 

Those  who  complain  of  the  condition  of  the  women  in  our 
own  beloved  country,  ought  to  go  abroad  and  study  the  con¬ 
dition  of  the  women  in  other  countries.  As  I  was  meditating 
on  these  things,  our  train  rolled  in  at  the  Augsburg  station. 
It  was  ten  o’clock  in  the  morning. 

This  is,  then,  the  ancient  Augsburg.  To  this  place  came 
Martin  Luther,  Friday,  October  7th,  1518,  in  the  evening,  at 
the  suggestion  of  the  Pope.  A  meeting  was  held  here  between 
Martin  Luther  and  the  delegate  of  the  Pope,  Cardinal  Thomas 
de  Vio  from  Cajeta,  and  because  of  this  he  is  commonly  called 
Cajetanus.  Luther  stopped  at  the  Augustinian  convent  here. 
On  his  way  to  Augsburg  Luther  took  sick,  but  he  recovered 
and  spoke  with  great  fortitude  to  the  nuntio  of  the  Pope.  Fri¬ 
day,  Octobed  11th,  Luther  appeared  before  the  delegate,  and 
being  instructed  to  fall  upon  his  knees,  he  did  so,  and  being 
told  to  arise,  he  did  so  and  spoke  to  the  nuntio  in  this  wise: 
“Highly  esteemed  Father!  As  requested  by  the  Pope  and  my 
gracious  Lord,  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  I  appear  as  the  obedient 
and  submissive  son  of  the  Christian  Church  and  acknowledge 


[64] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


myself  the  author  of  the  theses  in  question.  I  am  prepared  to 
listen  in  all  humility  to  the  things  whereof  I  am  accused  and 
to  be  elucidated  according  to  the  truth,  if  I  have  erred.”  After 
this  address  there  followed  a  most  interesting  discussion  between 
the  delegate  and  Luther.  The  former  found,  to  his  surprise, 
that  he  had  before  him  a  man  who  was  not  willing  to  retreat 
without  being  convinced.  He  must  be  shown,  by  the  Scripture, 
wherein  he  had  deviated.  Not  less  than  three  times  did  Luther 
appear  before  the  nuntio,  but  without  the  desired  result.  At 
last  Cajetanus  exclaimed:  “Revoca  aut  non  revertere.”  (Recant 
or  do  not  return.)  Luther  left  and  went  to  the  convent.  He 
expected  to  hear  from  the  legate  again,  but  did  not  hear  a 
word,  and  at  the  suggestion  of  the  friends  who  knew  the  tactics 
of  Rome,  he  resolved  to  leave  Augsburg.  Having  written  a 
letter  to  the  legate,  he  prepared  for  his  journey.  Early  in  the 
morning  before  daybreak,  he  started  on  his  journey  homeward. 
General  Superintendent  Staupitz,  who  was  at  Augsburg  at  that 
time,  placed  a  horse  at  his  disposal.  He  rode  on  this  horse, 
which  had  no  bridle,  and  he  himself  had  no  boots  or  weapon  of 
any  kind.  Through  a  little  gate,  which  a  friend  had  arranged 
to  have  open  for  him,  he  went  homeward. 

But  we  are  still  at  Augsburg,  and  we  wish  to  remind  our¬ 
selves  of  the  great  day  in  the  history  of  the  Lutheran  church 
here.  It  was  in  the  summer  of  1530.  A  diet  was  announced  b}r 
the  Emperor  Charles  V.  The  great  day  of  this  diet  was  June 
25th,  when  the  representatives  of  the  Evangelical  Church  were 
gathered  before  the  Emperor  and  the  representatives  of  the 
empire.  The  Confessio  Augustana  was  read  before  the  Emperor 
of  the  land,  and  that  day  became  the  confirmation  day  of  the 
Lutheran  Church.  On  that  day  she  wrote  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  chapters  in  her  history,  and  not  only  that,  but  one 
of  the  most  marked  chapters  in  the  history  of  mankind. 


[65] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


When  the  noted  representatives  of  the  empire  were  gathered, 
the  Chancellor  of  Saxony  came  forward  to  read  the  confession. 
The  Emperor  had  requested  that  the  Latin  copy  be  read, 
but  the  Elector  of  Saxony  asked  that  the  German  copy  be  used, 
inasmuch  as  they  were  on  German  soil.  Then  Byer  came  forth 
with  the  German  copy  and  read  slowly  and  distinctly  the  con¬ 
fession  of  the  Evangelicals.  All  felt  that  a  great  confession 
had  been  given  before  the  world.  Then  it  was  that  the  Bishop 
of  Augsburg  said :  ‘  ‘  All  that  the  Lutherans  have  said  is  the 
pure  truth ;  we  cannot  deny  it.  ’  ’ 

That  the  people  of  that  time  could  understand  the  true 
condition  of  the  struggle  in  the  church  is  also  clear  from  a 
certain  play.  While  Charles  V  sat  at  the  dinner  table,  a  play  was 
enacted  to  entertain  the  company,  according  to  the  custom  of 
the  time.  There  appeared  in  the  hall  a  heavy-set  old  man, 
dressed  in  a  doctor’s  garb,  carrying  a  bundle  of  twigs  and  wood. 
This  he  threw  in  the  furnace,  and  then  went  out.  On  his  back 
they  had  written  “Reuchlin.”  After  him  came  another  man 
with  a  very  intelligent  appearance.  He  went  to  the  furnace, 
arranged  the  wood  and  the  bundle  of  twigs  that  were  there; 
but  when  he  could  accomplish  nothing  to  kindle  the  fire,  he 
shook  his  head  and  went  out.  On  his  back  they  had  written 
“ Erasmus  from  Rotterdam.”  Then  entered  a  monk  with  a 
lively  appearance.  He  carried  a  tray  of  glowing  coal  in  his 
hands.  He  turned  the  wood,  kindled  the  wood  by  his  coal  so 
that  the  fire  flamed  high  up  in  the  air  and  then  he  went  out.  On 
his  back  was  written  “Martin  Luther.”  After  him  came  a 
man  of  noble  appearance,  dressed  in  an  imperial  garb  and  a 
sword  by  his  side.  By  mighty  strokes  with  his  sword  he  sought 
to  quench  the  fire,  but  it  was  all  in  vain.  The  more  he  cut  with 
his  sword,  the  more  the  fire  flamed  up  in  the  air.  Nothing  was 
written  on  the  back  of  the  man,  but  all  knew  for  whom  it  was 

[66] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


meant.  In  a  little  while  came  another  man,  dressed  in  a  red 
coat  and  wearing  a  priestly  garb.  He  went  to  the  fire,  and 
being  terrified,  he  threw  his  hands  together  and  looked  for 
something  with  which  to  quench  the  fire,  and  then  he  observed 
two  jars  in  the  hall.  The  one  was  filled  with  oil  and  the  other 
with  water.  He  grabbed  the  jar  of  oil  and  poured  it  on  the 
fire  with  the  consequence  that  the  flames  went  still  higher,  where¬ 
upon  he  fled  from  the  room  in  terror.  On  his  back  they  had 
written  “Leo  V.”  It  was  a  very  plain  but  significant  play, 
setting  forth  very  briefly  the  history  of  reformation. 

In  this  city  my  fellow-tourists  and  I  separated,  they  to  go 
to  Paris,  and  I  to  Munich.  We  bade  one  another  farewell,  and 
for  some  time  I  felt  quite  lonely  on  my  journey.  We  had  been 
together  over  the  Atlantic,  over  a  greater  part  of  Europe,  and  it 
was  not  surprising  that  I  felt  lonesome  at  first,  but  I  was  not 
alone;  God  was  with  me,  and  what  a  blessed  thought  that  God 
will  follow  us  on  the  way.  With  Him  we  can  safely  intrust 
ourselves  to  unknown  days. 


Chapter  IV 

TO  CONSTANTINOPLE  AND  WHAT  I  SAW  THERE 

IT  IS  the  18th  of  August  and  I  am  going  to  travel  with 
strangers  after  this.  In  a  few  minutes  I  hoarded  the  train 
at  Augsburg  for  Munich.  The  journey  took  the  rest  of  the  day, 
and  I  arrived  at  the  railroad  station  at  Munich  at  5 :40  P.  M. 
Munich  is  a  large  city  with  an  historic  past,  and  is  the  capital 
of  Bavaria.  This  part  of  Germany  is  mostly  Catholic.  The  city 
of  Munich  is  mostly  noted  for  its  numerous  and  beautiful 
paintings. 

Before  we  leave  this  city,  let  us  remind  ourselves  that  Gus- 
tavus  Adolphus  marched  down  through  Bavaria  during  the 
Thirty  Years’  War.  He  had  conquered  Tilly,  who  up  to  this 
time  had  proved  to  be  invincible,  and  in  a  decisive  battle,  Septem¬ 
ber  7th,  1631,  completely  crushed  him.  The  Emperor  was  in  a 
desperate  condition.  His  treasury  was  empty,  his  armies  beaten, 
and  at  the  boundary  line  stood  a  mighty  warrior.  Then  the 
Emperor  turned  to  Wallenstein  in  his  distress,  and  after  due 
consideration,  this  general  gathered  an  army  and  took  command 
of  it  himself.  The  Saxons  were  driven  out  of  Bohemia.  The 
King  of  Sweden  pressed  forward  with  his  army  into  Bavaria, 
where  Tilly  had  gathered  his  troops  and  intrenched  himself. 
Now  Gustavus  Adolphus  attacked  him  the  second  time.  Tilly 
was  wounded  and  died  shortly  after. 

Now  Munich  must  open  its  gates,  and  many  had  the  idea 
that  this  city  would  endure  the  same  fate  as  Magdeburg;  but 
the  Swedish  King  was  too  kind-hearted  to  do  anything  of  the 


[68] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 

kind.  It  was  in  this  city,  then,  that  Gustavus  Adolphus  entered 
victoriously,  and  with  his  victorious  army  conquered  the  enemy. 

But  we  must  leave  Munich  and  go  on  further.  About 
9  A.  M.  my  train  pulled  out  from  the  station  and  we  are  on  the 
way  to  Vienna  in  Austria.  To  begin  with,  our  train  went  in  an 
easterly  direction,  along  a  very  fruitful  valley,  where  indus¬ 
trious  people  had  prepared  for  themselves  beautiful  homes. 

We  changed  trains  for  Vienna  at  Salzburg,  the  beautiful 
city  situated  in  the  Alpine  Valley.  The  country  through  which 
we  passed  was  very  well  cultivated  and  more  rolling  than  that 
which  we  had  seen  before.  Every  foot  of  the  soil  seemed  to  be 
under  cultivation.  The  houses  reminded  us  of  the  buildings  in 
Sweden,  especially  those  of  the  southern  part. 

Very  often  we  saw  women  working  in  the  field,  plowing 
and  cutting  hay.  Here  I  saw  how  the  farmer  drove  the  wagon 
with  one  horse  hitched  to  the  pole — a  somewhat  strange  sight 
for  a  representative  from  the  New  World.  The  architecture  of 
the  churches  reminded  one  very  much  of  the  church  building  in 
Skane,  Sweden.  Here  I  saw  men  and  women  walk  about  in 
wooden  shoes,  as  they  do  in  some  parts  of  Sweden. 

When  I  arrived  at  Vienna,  I  registered  at  the  Hotel  Riva 
and  remained  there  a  few  days,  until  I  had  a  chance  to  see  some¬ 
thing  of  the  great  city.  The  following  day  I  went  to  the  River 
Danube.  I  wished  to  see  the  river,  of  which  I  had  read  so  much 
in  my  childhood  days,  and  now  I  stood  on  its  banks.  Here  at 
Vienna  it  is  wide  and  flows  quite  slowly.  It  is  on  the  northeast 
side  of  the  city,  where  a  long  bridge  stretches  across  it.  The 
water  was  very  dirty  and  somewhat  yellow,  resembling  the  water 
of  the  Missouri  River.  The  city  extends  along  the  river  and 
up  the  hillsides  to  the  southwest. 

Here  I  remained  for  some  time  and  then  returned  to  the 
middle  of  the  city,  and  bought  books  of  information  on  Greece 


[69] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


and  Asia  Minor.  I  also  bought  a  book  of  travels  on  Egypt.  At 
Erfurt  I  had  bought  a  guide-book  on  Palestine.  In  the  afternoon 
I  went  to  the  Imperial  Castle,  which  is  located  in  the  south¬ 
western  part  of  the  city.  Its  surroundings  are  very  idyllic.  I 
went  to  the  great  gate.  Soldiers  were  there  on  guard,  and  I 
wondered  whether  I  could  be  admitted  into  the  park  inside  the 
gate.  I  marched  on  and  no  one  prevented.  On  the  southeast  is 
a  very  beautiful  park.  I  went  in  there  with  many  others  and 
sat  down.  I  thought  of  the  Emperor  who  lives  in  this  mag¬ 
nificent  palace,  and  of  the  great  and  many  cares  that  press  on 
his  mind.  There  are  those  who  envy  the  rulers  of  this  world, 
and  seem  to  think  that  they  have  only  an  easy  time  and  happy 
days.  That  is  a  mistake.  ‘ 1  High  office,  severe  reckoning,  ”  is  an 
old  adage  and  it  surely  holds  good  in  this  case.  I  am  satisfied 
with  my  lot,  and  for  me  that  is  the  best.  An  old  wise  man  used 
to  say:  “The  question  is  not  how  much  you  would  like  to  have, 
but  how  much  you  can  get  along  without.”  To  him  this  was 
the  greatest  wealth — to  be  satisfied.  In  this  connection  I  must 
relate  an  old  story,  which  will  illustrate  my  point. 

A  king  offered  his  wise  men  and  physicians  half  of  his 
kingdom,  if  they  could  restore  him  his  health.  They  tried  the 
best  they  could,  but  it  was  all  in  vain.  Then  one  of  the  wise 
men  said :  “I  know  a  remedy,  0  King.  If  you  can  find  a  man 
who  is  really  happy  and  contented  and  put  on  his  shirt,  then 
you  will  be  well.”  The  king  sent  out  his  messengers  all  over 
the  country,  but  though  they  tried  very  hard  to  find  one,  they 
could  not,  and  it  seemed  that  they  would  have  to  give  up  the 
undertaking  in  despair.  One  was  rich  but  sickly;  another  was 
well,  but  complained  because  of  his  great  losses;  and  a  third 
one  complained  because  of  his  children  and  his  neighbors ;  and  so 
on  ad  infinitum.  One  evening,  as  the  messengers  were  ready 
to  go  home  and  give  up  their  task,  they  heard  a  poor  man,  sitting 


[70] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


in  a  dingy  little  hovel,  saying  grace.  He  added  that  he  had 
labored  all  day,  had  had  his  meal  and  was  ready  to  go  to  bed, 
satisfied.  The  messenger  became  elated  at  the  expression.  He 
heard  the  man  say  that  he  was  satisfied,  and  he  offered  to  buy 
his  shirt.  The  man  answered  that  he  was  so  poor  he  had  no  shirt. 

While  I  sat  in  the  shadow  of  the  palace  of  the  mighty 
Emperor  of  Austria,  I  thought  of  these  things  and  I  felt  that 
a  man  in  his  condition  is  in  need  of  the  commiseration  of  man. 
I  left  this  splendid  park  of  the  Emperor  of  Austria  and  re¬ 
turned  to  the  center  of  the  city,  and  as  I  went  to  the  gate  of  the 
palace,  I  thought  of  the  people  of  God,  who  shall  pass  through 
the  pearly  gate  of  the  Heavenly  City.  May  I  have  the  privilege 
to  join  the  throng  of  the  victorious  host  of  the  Lord ! 

As  I  returned  to  the  city  I  went  to  see  some  of  the  noted 
churches  in  the  metropolis.  At  the  Stephen  Place  we  find  the 
Stephen  Church,  the  most  remarkable  cathedral  in  Austria.  I 
went  in  and  remained  there  for  some  time.  It  is  a  magnificent 
building,  but  very  dark  and  gloomy  within.  Crowds  of  people 
are  walking  in  and  out.  By  the  statues  of  Mary  and  Christ 
many  candles  are  burning.  Around  the  statues  there  is  a  net¬ 
work,  so  that  they  could  not  be  touched.  A  great  many  knelt 
by  these  statues,  kissed  the  network  around  them,  and  said  their 
prayers  in  a  very  devoted  manner,  while  they  made  the  sign  of 
the  cross  on  their  breast.  Here  and  there  in  the  pews  women  sat 
and  numbered  their  beads.  There  are  many  altars  and  confes¬ 
sional  boxes,  as  is  generally  the  case  in  so  large  a  place  of  worship. 
From  this  place  I  went  to  another  church,  and  there  they  were 
celebrating  mass.  As  I  did  not  wish  to  disturb  them,  I  did  not 
stay  there  very  long,  and  went  to  a  third  church,  namely,  the 
Caroline.  Here  I  saw  how  a  woman  knelt  by  the  statue  of  the 
Saviour.  Many  struck  themselves  on  the  chest  as  though  they 
would  say,  “Here  is  the  sore  spot.”  Think  of  the  reverence 

[71] 


ii 


I 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


there  is  in  the  Catholic  Church !  It  would  be  well,  indeed,  if 
there  would  be  more  of  this  among  Protestants.  Having  seen 
the  greater  part  of  Vienna,  I  felt  very  tired,  and  went  to  bed 
early  in  the  evening  at  the  Riva. 

The  next  day,  August  22,  was  Sunday.  I  determined  to 
attend  services  at  the  Church  Caroline  in  the  morning.  On  my 
way  to  the  church  I  became  very  much  surprised  to  find  that  a 
greater  part  of  the  people  were  busy  at  their  various  callings, 
and  it  seemed  to  me  that  it  was  not  Sunday,  at  all.  The  stores 
were  wide  open,  and  a  lively  trade  was  carried  on,  and  no  one 
seemed  to  think  of  going  to  church  and  keeping  the  Lord’s  day. 

When  I  came  to  the  church,  I  asked  a  policeman  if  there 
was  any  English  church  in  the  city,  and  he  said:  “ There  is  a 
Russian  and  a  Greek  church  here,  but  I  do  not  know  if  there  is 
any  English  church.”  I  inquired  no  further  and  went  into  the 
church.  The  real  mass  was  held  earlier  in  the  morning,  and 
now  there  was  mainly  a  sermon  by  the  pastor.  He  spoke  in 
German  and  preached  on  the  text  about  the  man  who  fell  in 
the  hands  of  robbers.  His  theme  was,  ‘  ‘  How  we  should  love  one 
another.”  It  was  a  very  good  sermon,  and  it  was  encouraging 
to  me  to  have  the  privilege  to  listen  to  the  preaching  of  the 
word  of  God  in  this  distant  land. 

When  I  returned  from  the  church,  I  did  not  see  so  many 
at  work  as  I  had  seen  when  I  went  to  the  church.  They  had 
finished  their  Sunday  morning  business.  I  returned  to  my  room 
and  spent  some  time  in  studying  the  word  of  God  and  in  medita¬ 
tion.  We  surely  ought  to  value  the  blessed  word  of  God  more 
than  we  do. 

The  following  morning  I  arose  early  to  take  the  morning 
train  for  Constantinople.  The  days  that  I  had  spent  in  the 
Austrian  capital  had  been  very  interesting  to  me,  but  I  was  too 
much  of  a  Protestant  to  be  really  satisfied  in  such  a  strong 


[72] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 

Catholic  center.  Vienna  has  a  great  deal  of  interest  for  the 
tourist.  The  beautiful  parks  are  worth  while  seeing  and  the 
large  museums  have  their  peculiar  interest  for  the  stranger.  Yet 
I  felt  quite  lonesome,  when  I  was  strolling  around  in  the  Maria- 
Sophia  Park  by  the  railroad  station.  Here  a  great  throng  was 
going  back  and  forth  to  idle  away  the  time,  as  it  seemed.  But 
now  we  must  leave  Vienna  and  hasten  to  the  station.  Here  a 
great  throng  was  gathered,  waiting  for  the  departure  of  the 
train.  And  what  a  motley  crowd !  I  had  a  second-class  ticket, 
and  the  cars  were  quite  beautiful.  Here  in  this  car  I  must  stay 
for  two  days  and  two  nights.  On  the  train  I  became  acquainted 
with  an  Armenian,  who,  because  of  persecutions  in  his  native 
land,  had  chosen  England  as  his  home  country.  He  was  full  of 
praise  for  England  and  the  Englishmen,  their  customs,  their 
habits  and  their  Christian  standpoint  on  important  questions. 
He  spoke  English  fairly  well,  and  had  been  living  for  some  time 
in  Constantinople.  He  spoke  very  strongly  against  the  Chris¬ 
tian  nations,  because  they  have  done  comparatively  nothing  to 
hold  back  the  sword  of  Mohammed;  and  this  is  too  sadly  true. 
This  man  was  engaged  by  a  certain  firm  in  England  at  Man¬ 
chester,  and  he  was  now  on  the  way  to  Constantinople  in  the 
interest  of  this  firm.  I  received  some  useful  information  re¬ 
garding  Turkey  from  this  man.  At  Budapest  our  train  stopped 
an  hour  and  a  half.  We  made  the  very  best  use  of  the  time, 
and  went  out  and  saw  quite  a  bit  of  the  town.  Buda  is  on  one 
side  of  the  Danube  and  Pest  is  on  the  other.  Hence  the  name 
Budapest.  The  two  cities  are  united  by  a  bridge,  which  was 
built  in  1849. 

It  was  very  interesting  to  see  the  customs  and  the  habits  of 
the  people,  and  particularly  the  styles  of  the  clothes.  Having 
bought  some  fruit  for  the  journey,  we  went  to  the  station.  Here 
we  took  dinner,  and  it  was  a  very  good  one.  While  sitting  at 


[73] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


the  table  we  liad  a  chance  to  see  the  folklife,  as  it  manifested 
itself  at  the  station  among  the  great  throng  that  passed  to 
and  fro. 

Soon  we  are  on  the  train  again,  leaving  this  motley  throng. 
We  cross  the  Danube  and  hasten  off  in  a  southeasterly  direction, 
with  Belgrade  in  Serbia  as  our  goal.  The  train  speeds  along 
over  a  great  plain  in  Hungary.  In  the  far  distance  a  gigantic 
mass  of  mountains  heaves  in  sight;  but  where  the  train  rushes 
along  the  plain  is  mostly  without  trees,  and  very  little  of  the 
land  is  under  cultivation.  We  are  told  that  here  on  this  plain 
or  plateau  the  most  peculiar  notchings  are  seen ;  they  come 
very  suddenly  and  pass  away  just  as  quickly.  Here  in  this  wild 
place  the  elements  have  a  chance  to  play  as  they  please,  and  they 
play  their  dramas  in  a  most  wonderful  way. 

But  soon  we  come  to  the  end  of  this  vast  plain  and  are,  as  it 
seems,  at  the  outposts  of  civilization.  We  draw  near  to  the 
boundary  line  of  Serbia.  Before  we  come  to  the  city  of  Belgrade, 
an  officer  comes  in  on  the  train  and  demands  our  passports. 
When  he  got  my  pass,  he  asked  me  what  my  occupation  was, 
and  when  I  informed  him  he  was  satisfied  and  went  on  further. 
Anyone  who  has  not  a  passport  is  not  permitted  to  come  to 
Belgrade,  which  is  located  a  little  beyond  the  boundary  line. 
After  this  officer  had  gone  there  came  another  publican,  who 
looked  through  our  valises.  It  did  not  take  him  very  long. 
These  men  are  very  careful  to  ascertain  whether  the  passengers 
have  any  tobacco.  I  do  not  use  this  weed  and  so  they  let  me 
pass  on.  At  10:30  P.  M.  we  were  at  the  railroad  station  in 
Belgrade.  It  was  dark  when  we  passed  through  this  city  and 
we  could  not  see  very  much  of  it.  It  was  night  when  we  passed 
through  most  of  Serbia  and  I  could  not  get  any  idea  of  the  land. 
Early  in  the  morning  we  got  an  idea  as  to  how  the  country 
looked.  It  was  very  mountainous  and  in  places  the  soil  looked 

[74] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 

poor  and  sandy.  Here  and  there  we  saw  deep  valleys,  and  the 
houses  looked  dingy.  The  land  and  the  people  bear  the  stamp 
of  poverty. 

At  half  past  four  in  the  morning  I  saw  from  the  car  window 
how  the  poor  people  were  at  work  throughout  the  valley,  and  it 
seemed  to  me  that  these  poor  toilers  had  to  dig  early  and  late 
to  secure  their  sustenance.  They  looked  like  slaves,  and  we  all 
realized  that  they  had  a  very  cruel  master  when  the  Turkish 
Sultan  ruled  over  them  with  an  iron  rod.  Certain  parts  of 
Serbia  have  rich  soil  which,  well  tilled,  will  yield  a  rich  return. 
We  all  remember  what  a  conflict  the  people  of  Serbia  had  with 
the  Turkish  taskmasters  before  they  could  get  rid  of  them. 

Our  train  runs  along  the  Eiver  Morava  to  the  city  of  Nich, 
whither  we  come  at  6  :30  in  the  morning.  The  country  round 
about  this  place  looks  wild,  strange  and  peculiar  in  many  ways. 
Yonder  on  the  mountain  sides  flocks  of  sheep  were  feeding,  while 
the  peasant  was  gathering  his  harvest  in  the  valley  below.  From 
Nich  we  follow  a  tributary  of  Morava,  and  along  this  our  train 
winds  its  way  to  Pirot  and  Zaribrod.  These  small  towns  are 
located  towards  the  boundary  lines  of  Bulgaria.  We  are  now 
passing  through  a  very  dark  and  narrow  valley  called  Dervanter 
Cliff.  High  mountains  rise  almost  perpendicularly  on  both 
sides  of  the  railroad,  and  at  times  the  valley  where  our  train 
passes  through  is  so  dark  that  it  looks  very  much  like  a  tunnel. 
Not  a  ray  of  the  sun  reaches  down  to  the  bottom  of  this  narrow 
pass. 

At  last  we  have  passed  through  the  cliff,  and  we  find  our¬ 
selves  in  a  more  attractive  region,  but  here  we  find  no  trees  or 
bushes,  only  a  naked  and  barren  tract.  Nature  becomes  more 
wild,  not  a  field  is  found,  no  human  dwelling-place,  not  a  house 
of  any  kind.  Our  train  rushes  along  the  mountain  sides,  ever 
onward  and  soon  we  enter  a  plateau  in  the  southwestern  corner 


[75] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


of  the  same.  This  plateau  is  very  desolate.  The  sun  in  this 
month  of  August  has  burnt  up  everything  on  this  plain. 

Before  we  come  into  Bulgaria  we  must  show  our  passports, 
and  our  baggage  is  scrutinized  by  the  publicans  of  the  country. 
As  for  my  part,  I  had  nothing  to  fear.  As  these  men  passed 
through  the  train,  looking  through  the  baggage,  it  seemed  to 
me  that  they  did  this  in  a  very  perfunctory  manner,  and  simply 
because  they  had  to. 

Now  as  we  came  to  the  above-named  plateau,  we  saw  in  the 
northeastern  end  of  this  vast  plain  a  lot  of  houses  looming  up 
towards  the  mountains  of  Balkan.  It  is  the  capital  city  of  Bul¬ 
garia,  the  city  of  Sofia.  It  was  the  24th  of  August,  when  we 
arrived  at  this  place  at  3  P.  M.  This  city  has  a  very  romantic 
location  here  on  this  plateau  within  sight  of  the  picturesque 
mountains.  The  soil  looks  very  poor.  The  people  of  Bulgaria 
have  not  as  yet  learned  to  till  the  soil  as  they  ought,  but  they 
will,  no  doubt,  take  hold  of  this  work  in  the  future.  Poverty 
stares  you  in  the  face  all  over.  I  shall  never  forget  the  painful 
feeling  that  possessed  me  when  at  the  station  of  Zaribrod  I  saw 
some  policemen.  They  were  ragged;  and  if  this  is  indicative  of 
the  condition  of  the  country,  the  people  are  in  very  straitened 
circumstances. 

But  we  must  say  of  Bulgaria  as  we  said  of  Serbia.  A  coun¬ 
try  under  the  scepter  of  the  Turkish  Sultan  cannot  develop. 
These  people  have  so  recently  become  free  from  the  bondage  of 
the  Sultan,  that  it  is  no  wonder  that  they  have  not  as  yet  been 
able  to  develop.  They  were  liberated  in  1878.  Our  train  worked 
its  way  down  the  Balkan  mountains  and  late  in  the  afternoon 
we  came  to  the  city  of  Philipoppel.  Even  here  the  country  and 
its  people  looked  very  poor.  The  people  are  in  rags. 

At  9  P.  M.  we  came  to  the  Turkish  boundary.  The  name 
of  the  station  is  Mustapha  Pascha.  There  were  many  things 

[76] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


here  that  reminded  us  of  Turkey.  Our  train  exchanged  per¬ 
sonnel  and  Turkish  officials  with  the  red  fez  on  the  head  took 
charge  of  the  train.  We  must  show  our  passports  again  and 
allow  the  Turkish  publicans  to  take  charge  of  our  baggage  and 
look  them  over.  This  they  did  in  a  very  careful  manner.  One 
of  these  men  got  hold  of  my  camera,  and  wished  to  know  if  I 
brought  it  along  for  my  own  use,  and  I  told  him  that  I  did. 
Then  he  got  hold  of  my  guide-books  and  looked  them  over  care¬ 
fully.  He  understood  neither  German  nor  English,  but  spoke 
good  French.  Here  at  the  above-named  station  our  train  stopped 
a  long  time,  and  the  trainmen  had  time  to  look  over  the  train 
carefully  before  they  took  charge  of  it.  The  conductor  looked 
to  be  a  real  gentleman,  and  greeted  the  passengers  when  he 
entered  the  car,  and  thanked  each  passenger,  a  la  Fran§aise, 
when  he  returned  the  ticket.  I  must  confess  that  I  had  enter¬ 
tained  an  entirely  different  opinion  of  these  men,  to  begin  with, 
but  I  found  them  to  be  more  polite  and  congenial  to  the  passen¬ 
gers  than  I  had  found  conductors  in  my  previous  travels. 

When  we  had  become  somewhat  accustomed  to  the  Turkish 
officials,  we  went  to  sleep  and  slept  well  during  the  night,  while 
the  train  was  speeding  along  to  the  Turkish  capital.  The  follow¬ 
ing  morning  I  awoke  about  five  o’clock,  and  as  I  looked  out,  I 
saw  a  barren  and  desolate  country  before  me.  I  saw  no  human 
dwelling-place,  but  on  a  naked  hill  I  observed  a  shepherd  with 
his  flock. 

Early  in  the  morning  our  train  followed  the  Maritza  River 
to  Adrianople.  This  city  is  located  a  little  distance  from  the 
railroad.  At  the  station  Haken  Keu  I  saw  Turkish  soldiers  for 
the  first  time.  At  this  time  the  country  was  under  martial  law, 
and  for  this  reason  the  soldiers  were  on  guard  to  enforce  dis¬ 
cipline.  Our  train  was  speeding  along  in  a  southeasterly  direction 
until  we  came  to  the  Sea  of  Marmora,  and  then  we  followed  the 


[77] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


shore  in  a  northeasterly  course,  the  Sea  of  Marmora  being  on 
the  right.  We  are  now  in  old  Thrace. 

At  first  we  passed  an  inland  lake  and  then  we  came  to  San 
Stephano.  This  city  is  located  on  the  shore  of  Marmora.  It 
was  in  this  town  that  peace  was  established  between  Turkey 
and  Russia.  The  reader  will  remember  that  Russia,  pretending 
to  protect  the  Christians  in  Bulgaria  had  declared  war  on  Bul¬ 
garia.  This  took  place  in  May,  1877.  In  San  Stephano  Russia 
dictated  very  hard  conditions  of  peace  for  Turkey.  Several 
countries  that  had  belonged  to  Turkey  now  became  independent. 
This  was  a  very  good  stroke  on  the  part  of  Russia,  and  has  borne 
good  fruit. 

We  now  passed  along  the  shore  of  this  sea,  where  a  number 
of  suburbs  are  located.  Here  we  observed  the  most  miserable 
dwelling-places  and  also  the  stateliest  mansions.  Here  you  find 
the  rich  and  the  poor  living  side  by  side. 

Here  and  there  we  see  parts  of  the  ancient  highway,  Via 
Egnantia,  which  passed  along  this  sea  and  into  Macedonia  and 
onward.  This  was  the  main  line  of  the  ancient  Romans.  Here 
and  there  we  see  fallen  walls  of  old  buildings  and  castles.  Soon 
we  observe  among  the  trees  the  white  minarets  of  the  city  of 
Constantine,  and  at  7  :35  A.  M.  our  train  rolled  into  the  station 
at  Constantinople.  The  station  is  located  on  the  eastern  side  of 
the  Serai  j-point  in  Stambul.  We  are  at  Constantinople. 

My  first  duty  is  to  show  my  passport,  of  course.  Two  men 
stood  there  and  received  it,  recording  my  name  and  profession 
as  well  as  the  hotel  where  I  was  to  stop.  My  baggage  was  ex¬ 
amined  and  then  I  was  at  liberty  to  go  wheresoever  I  wished. 
While  on  the  train  in  Sweden  I  met  a  man  who  had  been  in 
Turkey,  and  he  advised  me  to  go  to  Paulich  Hotel,  located  in 
that  part  of  Constantinople  called  Pera.  When  I  heard  a  repre¬ 
sentative  of  that  hotel  call  out  Paulich,  I  let  him  take  charge 

[78] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


of  my  baggage,  and  a  “hammal”  or  carrier  took  charge  of  my 
satchel  and  took  it  out  to  a  hack.  Of  course  he  must  have 
bakschisch  for  his  trouble,  and  I  gave  him  a  piaster.  I  went 
in  a  hack  through  a  part  of  Stambul,  over  the  Galata  bridge 
and  up  to  the  Paulich  Hotel  in  Pera.  Here  I  was  well  taken 
care  of,  received  a  good  room  in  the  lower  story,  and 
had  a  good  rest.  This  hotel  is  a  center  for  the  Europeans  and 
so  I  determined  to  stay  there.  Having  had  some  rest  in  the 
forenoon,  I  went  out  to  see  the  omnipresent  Thomas  Cook  &  Son 
to  secure  some  Turkish  money.  Then  I  went  around  here  and 
there  in  Pera  for  some  time  to  become  acquainted  with  my  new 
and  peculiar  surroundings. 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  remind  the  reader  a  little  of  the  history 
of  this  ancient  city.  Here  at  this  place,  where  Constantinople 
is  located,  Greeks  from  Megara  began  to  build  a  city  as  early 
as  667  B.  C.,  and  called  it  Byzantium.  This  city,  like  Rome,  is 
also  build  on  seven  hills,  and  a  more  beautiful  location  than 
this  one  you  cannot  find  anywhere.  Here  on  these  hills  the 
ancient  Greeks  have  fought  many  a  bloody  battle,  and  the  history 
of  this  city  is  full  of  telling  events.  To  be  sure,  the  earliest 
part  of  the  history  of  this  city  is  hidden  in  the  misty  past. 
When  the  Greeks  in  the  fifth  century  became  masters  over  this 
territory,  the  city  became  a  bone  of  contention  between  the 
Spartans  and  the  Athenians. 

It  is  claimed  that  Saint  Andrew  preached  the  Gospel  here 
for  the  first  time.  About  196  A.  D.  Septimus  Severus,  the 
Roman  Emperor,  conquered  this  city  with  his  brave  legions, 
having  beleaguered  it  for  three  years.  In  330  A.  D.  Constantine 
the  Great  moved  his  capital  from  Rome  to  this  place,  and  called 
it  after  himself,  Constantinople. 

During  the  Middle  Ages  the  armies  of  the  Crusaders  marched 
through  this  place  on  their  way  to  the  East.  At  one  time  there 

[79] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


were  1,000,000  people  outside  of  the  city,  trying  to  get  over 
the  Bosporus,  and  onward  to  the  Holy  Land.  What  a  wonder¬ 
ful  movement  the  Crusades  were.  They  began  about  1096  and 
ended  in  1291. 

About  a  century  and  a  half  after  these  events,  other  impor¬ 
tant  things  happened  here.  The  mighty  hosts  of  the  Mohamme¬ 
dan  world  sought  to  break  through  at  this  place  and  enter  Europe. 
With  all  their  power  they  attacked  two  salient  points  so  as  to 
get  into  Europe.  The  one  was  Gibraltar,  the  other  was  Con¬ 
stantinople.  Thousands  of  valiant  soldiers  came  hither  in  1543, 
and  it  is  said  that  200,000  were  gathered  here  to  press  onward 
into  Europe  to  make  it  tributary  to  Islam. 

They  fought  valiantly  and  captured  the  city.  The  very 
night  when  the  city  was  captured,  there  was  a  star  in  the  half¬ 
moon,  or  the  crescent,  and  the  superstitious  Mohammedans  looked 
upon  this  as  an  omen  of  success,  and  henceforth  the  world  has 
seen  in  the  Mohammedan  banner  a  star  in  the  crescent.  This 
is  now  seen  all  over  the  Mohammedan  world  on  the  flag  and  on 
the  minarets  of  their  mosques.  Now  since  that  time  the  crescent 
has  waved  over  these  hills  where  the  city  of  Constantinople  is 
located.  Surely  there  is  a  most  wonderful  and  varied  history 
behind  this  quaint  old  city,  and  one  feels  like  a  dreamer  as  one 
sees-  this  ancient  city  with  its  crooked  and  dingy-looking  streets. 

There  is  a  most  peculiar  city  life  here  in  this  metropolis. 
Never  had  I  seen  such  peculiar  styles  in  the  dresses  as  I  saw 
here.  Here  the  business  man  is  standing  in  the  street,  doing 
his  business;  others  are  sitting  around,  taking  life  very  easily. 
The  Turk  is  by  nature  very  lazy  and  does  not  do  anything  with¬ 
out  compulsion.  He  is  at  his  best  when  he  can  sit  down  and 
smoke  his  water-pipe  (narghila).  This  pipe  is  so  arranged  that 
the  smoke  passes  through  a  jar  of  water,  and  thus  it  becomes 
cooled  off. 


[80] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


In  Constantinople  you  will  see  a  phase  of  street  life  that 
you  can  find  in  no  other  city  in  the  world.  Here  you  will  find — 
so  it  is  said — about  1,100,000  inhabitants.  I  say  “about”  be¬ 
cause  there  is  no  census  taken  in  that  country.  It  is  said  that 
there  are  about  3,000,000  dogs  in  this  city;  hence  there  are  about 
three  dogs  to  every  person.  These  poor  animals  are  owned  by 
no  one,  and  no  one  is  responsible  for  them.  No  one  is  permitted 
to  kill  them.  They  are  common  property  and  act  as  a  scavenger 
corps  in  the  city.  In  the  daytime  they  are  on  the  streets,  lying 
down  in  hollow  places,  or  crawling  together  in  some  hidden 
corner,  looking  very  sleepy  and  emaciated.  Generally  they  are 
still  in  the  daytime,  but  in  the  night  they  are  very  busy  on 
their  job.  In  the  capacity  of  city  scavengers  they  are  permitted 
to  serve  from  year  to  year,  and  all  they  get  is  the  offal  from  the 
houses,  which  is  thrown  on  the  streets.  They  disturb  no  one 
and  are  disturbed  by  no  one,  but  woe  be  unto  him  who  steps  on 
them  or  molests  them  in  any  way  or  shape.  Then  they  show 
that  they  have  life  and  courage.  In  the  night  they  are  very 
busy  and  then  you  hear  their  howlings  all  the  time.  These  dogs 
have  their  marked  territory  and  pity  the  dog  that  comes 
into  the  territory  of  another  group  of  dogs.  I  heard  their  bark¬ 
ings  all  night,  and  by  this  I  could  understand  that  some  one 
got  hurt. 

But  we  are  on  the  way  to  Galata  in  this  motley  city,  and 
will  try  to  forget  the  dogs,  for  a  while  at  least.  When  I  came, 
I  drove  over  this  bridge  very  hastily,  and  had  no  time  to  observe 
the  throng  that  passes  this  strange  bridge  of  sighs.  This  bridge 
unites  the  two  parts  of  the  city,  Stambul  and  Galata,  and  is 
stretched  over  the  Golden  Horn,  which  is  a  bay  of  the  Bosporus. 
It  has  the  form  of  a  horn  and  is  called  “Golden”  because  in 
times  past  much  gold  was  brought  into  this  bay. 


[81] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


My  first  object  must  be  to  study  the  people  that  pass  along 
this  great  highway.  It  is  a  pontoon  bridge.  I  took  my  stand 
at  the  northern  end  of  the  bridge,  so  that  I  might  be  able  to 
observe  all  that  could  be  seen.  Here  you  will  see  people  from 
all  parts  of  the  world  and  people  of  all  colors — black,  white, 
yellow,  brown  and  copper  colored.  Some  are  dressed  in  rags  and 
others  are  robed  in  satin  and  silk.  And  think  of  the  various 
kinds  of  garments  they  wear !  Here  is  a  point  where  three  worlds 
meet. 

It  will  cost  one  meteik  to  pass  over  the  bridge,  or  one  cent 
in  American  money.  There  are  two  offices,  one  at  each  end  of 
the  bridge,  where  you  can  secure  your  tickets. 

The  first  thing  that  aroused  my  curiosity  as  I  stood  on  the 
bridge  was  the  numerous  red  caps,  or  fez,  which  in  almost  every 
case  was  worn  by  the  men.  The  garments  of  the  Turks  are  not 
in  the  least  attractive  to  a  representative  of  the  New  World. 
But  we  shall  not  discuss  the  question  of  taste  and  form,  because 
what  to  them  might  be  so  very  tasty  and  proper,  might  be  entirely 
out  of  place  and  proportion  for  us. 

As  I  stood  there  a  long  time  on  the  bridge  and  occasionally 
looked  over  the  bay,  I  saw  busy  men  on  the  Bosporus  loading 
ships  for  distant  shores.  At  the  side  of  the  bridge  I  saw  a 
Mohammedan  offer  prayer  to  Allah.  He  placed  his  coat  on  the 
seat  in  the  boat,  or  kajik,  then  stood  a  little  while  praying;  then 
he  bent  down  a  little,  and  having  prayed  in  that  position  for 
some  time,  he  fell  on  his  knees.  Then  he  bent  down  to  his  coat 
three  times  in  succession  and  then  he  arose  again  to  continue 
as  he  had  done  before.  This  was  the  first  time  I  had  seen  a 
Mohammedan  go  through  his  devotional  exercises,  but  not  the 
last  time. 

I  determined  to  go  further  and  followed  the  stream.  To 
begin  with,  I  felt  a  little  strange  among  those  half-civilized 

[82] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


people,  but  soon  I  became  used  to  the  new  condition,  and  felt 
more  easy  among  them.  When  I  came  to  the  other  end  of  the 
bridge,  I  found  the  scaffolds  where  some  of  the  offenders  against 
the  regime  of  the  Young  Turks  had  been  executed.  In  order 
that  it  might  have  a  salutary  effect  on  the  would-be  transgressors, 
the  scaffolds  were  not  taken  down,  but  were  left  there  as  a  warn¬ 
ing  to  others. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  bridge  is  Stambul.  I  went  to  see 
the  Sophia  Mosque.  It  is  situated  quite  high  on  a  hill  in  the 
southwestern  part  of  the  city  of  Stambul,  and  from  here  there 
is  a  splendid  view  over  certain  parts  of  the  city.  My  companion, 
a  certain  Mr.  Gorgon,  was  well  acquainted  with  the  gate-keeper, 
and  because  I  was  in  his  company  I  did  not  need  to  pay  an 
admission  fee.  But  there  was  one  thing  that  neither  he  nor  I 
could  escape,  and  that  was  to  take  off  our  shoes  and  put  on  the 
sandals  which  we  found  at  the  doors.  Both  of  us  took  the  shoes 
in  our  hands  while  we  were  walking  in  the  mosque  on  the  carpets 
that  covered  the  floor.  It  was  a  strange  sight  to  me  to  be  per¬ 
mitted  to  walk  about  in  this  ancient  temple.  The  reader  is 
familiar  with  the  fact  that  this  mosque  was  a  Christian  church 
in  the  earlier  part  of  the  Christian  era ;  now  it  is  a  Mohammedan 
mosque.  We  went  around  in  this  building  for  a  long  time, 
looking  at  the  walls  and  pillars  and  listening  to  the  monotonous 
songs  of  the  Mohammedans,  who  read  their  Al-Koran  on  the 
floors  here  and  there.  There  are  no  pews  or  galleries  in  this 
house  of  worship.  The  worshipers  sit  down  on  the  floor,  and  as 
they  read  the  Koran  they  wag  their  bodies  back  and  forth,  as 
though  they  would  like  to  shake  down  into  their  system  the 
Mohammedan  doctrine.  My  guide,  Mr.  Gorgon,  could  not  stay 
very  long,  and  so  he  returned  to  his  labors.  I  went  with  him  to 
the  door  and  proposed  to  leave  my  shoes  by  the  door,  but  then 
he  said:  “No,  don’t  do  that,  for  when  you  return  you  are  minus 

[83] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


a  pair  of  shoes.”  He  knew  what  he  was  talking  about,  because 
in  the  Mohammedan  world  there  is  no  conception  of  mine  and 
thine.  When  Mr.  Gorgon  had  left,  I  returned  to  look  over  the 
building  more  carefully.  The  mosque  is  built  in  the  form  of  a 
square,  225  feet  long  and  210  feet  wide.  The  great  dome,  which 
rests  on  the  center  of  the  building,  is  180  feet  about  the  floor 
and  its  diameter  is  107  feet.  When  you  look  at  the  church  inside 
you  will  find  that  it  has  the  form  of  a  cross  with  a  number  of 
pillars  that  cut  off  the  side  naves.  The  altar  is  in  the  eastern 
end.  Here  and  there  on  the  walls  and  on  the  pillars  are  inscrip¬ 
tions  in  Arabic,  taken  from  the  Al-Koran. 

When  the  building  was  ready,  it  cost  $5,000,000 — truly  a 
large  sum!  The  walls  are  of  brick  and  covered  inside  with  the 
very  best  kind  of  marble.  The  pillars  were  brought  from 
Ephesus,  Delos,  Baalbek,  Heliopolis  and  Athens.  The  doors 
were  made  of  cedar  trees,  ivory  and  precious  stones,  and  within 
the  church  there  were  ten  golden  chandeliers  and  6,000  golden 
candlesticks. 

Having  observed  very  carefully  the  inside  of  this  building, 
I  went  to  take  a  good  look  at  the  outside.  There  are  many 
additions  made  to  the  structure,  and  cupolas  are  built  over  each 
nave  and  in  every  corner  where  a  minaret  is  raised,  and  above 
these  are  the  crescent  and  star.  I  went  all  around  this  mosque, 
and  it  was  a  sad  thought  to  me,  that  the  symbol  of  the  cross 
had  been  taken  away  and  been  replaced  by  the  crescent.  I  asked 
myself,  as  I  was  walking  around  on  this  ground,  why  this  hu¬ 
miliation  was  necessary.  If  we  are  familiar  with  the  history 
of  the  church,  we  know  the  spiritual  condition  of  the  church  at 
the  time  when  Mohammed  and  his  fanatical  hordes  marched 
over  the  earth,  suppressing  Christian  faith  and  establishing 
the  Mohammedan  doctrine. 


[84] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Christianity  at  that  time  was  an  empty  form,  and  hence 
it  was  an  easy  matter  to  place  the  crescent  on  the  place  where 
the  cross  had  stood.  The  Mohammedans  drew  the  black  veil  of 
their  doctrine  over  so  many  of  the  countries  where  the  Christians 
had  been  working  for  the  cross.  Where  the  pure  light  of  Chris¬ 
tianity  had  been  burning  so  bright  in  the  early  times,  only  dead 
forms  of  this  light  and  life  were  to  be  found  at  the  time  when 
the  Mohammedans  came  and  conquered.  What  a  warning  to  us 
in  these  times !  If  we  do  not  keep  the  light  on  the  candlesticks 
burning  the  Master  will  come  and  take  the  candlestick  out  of 
its  place  and  we  are  in  the  darkness.  Think  of  the  changes  that 
this  sanctuary  has  passed  through !  If  the  stones  of  these  walls 
could  speak  they  would  relate  a  very  strange  story.  Let  us 
remember  that  when  the  Crusaders  came  to  Constantinople  in 
1204,  they  plundered  this  church,  and  when  the  Turks  in  1453 
captured  the  city  they  also  plundered  it  the  second  time.  While 
4,000  men  defended  the  city  from  the  walls,  a  great  throng  of 
weak  Byzantines  took  refuge  in  this  church.  They  became 
victims  of  the  Turkish  soldiers,  who  plundered  and  killed  for 
ten  days.  Those  who  were  not  killed  were  sold  into  slavery. 
On  the  third  day  the  Sultan  entered  the  church  and  dedicated 
it  as  a  house  of  worship.  Since  that  time  it  has  been  a  Mohamme¬ 
dan  mosque. 

But  shall  it  continue  so  to  be?  We  believe  that  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  shall  conquer,  and  if  the  world  will  stand,  this  building 
shall  again  be  used  as  a  Christian  house  of  worship.  So  may  it  be  ! 

From  this  place  I  went  to  the  Hippodrome,  which  is  located 
a  little  distance  from  Hagia  Sophia.  Not  far  from  the  church  is 
the  Parliament  building,  and  this  looks  quite  stately.  As  I  was 
walking  along  I  saw  to  the  right  a  “ monumental  well,”  which 
the  German  Emperor,  William  II,  had  built  as  a  memory  of 
his  visit  here  in  1898.  Just  think,  if  Luther  could  have  surmised 


[85] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


that  the  Emperor  of  Germany  should  be  such  a  friend  of  the 
Sultan  of  Turkey !  What  would  he  have  said  ? 

Not  far  from  here  we  find  the  mosque  of  Sultan  Ahmed. 
It  is  of  a  later  date  and  is  very  beautiful.  Not  far  from  this 
mosque  stands  the  obelisk  of  Theodosius  II.  It  was  made  in 
Egypt  at  Heliopolis  about  1600  B.  C.,  and  it  was  brought  to 
this  place  by  the  early  rulers,  and  has  stood  here  ever  since. 

It  began  to  be  quite  late  and  the  sun  was  setting.  I  deter¬ 
mined  to  go  to  my  hotel.  As  I  looked  around,  I  saw  a  little  boy 
of  12  years,  who  addressed  me  in  pretty  good  American.  He 
was  the  son  of  the  Jew  who  brought  me  from  the  station  to  the 
hotel  when  I  came  to  the  city.  This  boy  of  12  years  spoke  seven 
languages,  and  he  spoke  them  quite  well,  too. 

The  following  day,  August  26th,  I  determined  to  go  over 
to  the  Asiatic  side.  Crowds  of  people  pass  back  and  forth  every 
day.  Return  tickets  cost  two  and  a  half  piasters  or  ten  cents 
each.  This  is  very  reasonable.  The  trip  over  takes  15  minutes. 
The  weather  was  very  beautiful  and  clear  as  crystal.  To  the 
right  we  have  the  Sea  of  Marmora  with  the  Prince  Islands  in 
the  distance.  To  the  left  of  us  on  the  height  are  the  Galata 
and  Pera  parts  of  the  city.  Further  on  is  the  Bosporus  and 
the  Asiatic  shore.  At  9  :30  I  set  my  foot  on  Asiatic  soil  for  the 
first  time.  It  was  at  Scutari. 

But  what  was  my  object  in  going  to  Scutari  ?  Well,  I  wanted 
to  see  Asia  and  stand  on  Asiatic  soil,  and  another  reason  was 
that  I  might  see  the  howling  dervishes.  For  some  time  I  could 
not  find  the  place.  At  last  I  gave  up  the  hope  of  finding  any, 
and  was  on  my  way  to  the  wharf.  I  then  met  the  hotel-keeper, 
Mr.  Paulich,  who,  together  with  some  other  Germans,  was  on 
his  way  to  the  afternoon  exhibition  of  the  dervishes ;  and  I  re¬ 
turned  and  went  with  them. 


[86] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


I  now  found  that  I  had  passed  by  the  place  several  times, 
but  I  did  not  imagine  that  they  lived  in  such  a  hovel.  We  paid 
the  admission  fee  of  five  piaster,  or  20  cents,  and  went  in.  About 
150  were  there,  most  of  them  Germans,  with  a  sprinkling  of 
Englishmen  and  Americans.  At  the  east  end  of  the  room  was 
a  kind  of  choir,  and  in  this  we  saw  a  great  many  swords,  knives, 
javelins  and  revolvers.  Besides  these  there  were  several  cres¬ 
cents.  On  the  three  sides  there  were  seats  and  a  railing  around 
the  places  where  we  sat.  The  floor  in  the  middle  of  the  room 
was  open,  and  in  this  place  the  dervishes  were  giving  their 
exercises. 

There  were  20  dervishes  in  all.  They  sat  down  on  skins 
and  began  their  prayers  to  Allah.  “La  Alla  illah  Allah  Mo¬ 
hammed  rasul  la  Allah.”  (There  is  but  one  God  and  Mohammed 
is  His  prophet;  arise  to  worship  Allah.)  With  this  and  other 
prayers  they  kept  on  and  were  waving  their  bodies  from  one 
side  to  another;  and  thus  they  kept  on  until  the  sweat  was 
pouring  down  their  cheeks.  To  get  some  rest  they  sat  down 
on  the  floor,  and  then  the  Turkish  priest  made  a  speech  to  them. 
This  we  could  not  understand,  of  course.  While  he  made  this 
speech  he  sat  down  on  the  floor,  and  after  this  address  the  exer¬ 
cises  began  again. 

When  they  had  kept  on  for  some  time,  the  priest  went  to 
the  place  where  the  weapons  were  kept  and  took  two  spears,  the 
length  of  which  was  somewhat  over  a  foot  and  a  half.  A  great 
iron  ball  was  at  one  end  of  each  sharp  spear.  Then  he  went 
to  a  young  and  heavily-set  man,  pulled  away  his  shirt  under  the 
breast  and  ran  one  of  the  spears  through  the  fat  under  the 
abdomen.  The  man  did  not  wink  in  the  least  and  kept  on  after¬ 
wards  with  his  exercises,  holding  the  globe  in  his  right  hand. 

Then  the  priest  went  to  an  old  man.  This  man  remon¬ 
strated,  but  he  pulled  him  forward  to  the  post  right  by  my  side, 

[87] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


put  the  spear  through  one  of  his  cheeks  and  then  stuck  it  in 
the  post  right  by  my  side,  and  hit  the  globe  with  his  right  hand, 
thus  pinning  the  poor  fellow  to  the  post  and  letting  him  stand 
there  for  about  twenty  minutes.  Several  of  the  dervishes  swooned 
away  and  they  carried  them  out  of  the  room.  Then  he  liberated 
these  two  men  from  their  spears,  and  you  should  have  seen  how 
they  danced  on  the  floor  hilariously.  This  was  a  very  sad  spec¬ 
tacle,  and  some  of  the  women  who  laughed  at  the  performance 
to  begin  with,  fled  away  from  the  room  in  terror  when  they  saw 
how  the  thing  ended.  I  determined  that  I  would  see  the  program 
to  the  end,  and  I  did.  Here  we  had  occasion  to  see  how  the 
doctrines  and  principles  of  Mohammedanism  are  promulgated 
and  extended  with  the  sword.  I  was  told  that  these  Mohamme¬ 
dan  dervishes  sometimes  become  so  fanatical  that  they  cut  them¬ 
selves  with  knives  until  the  blood  flows  in  streams  down  their 
cheeks.  A  terrible  spectacle  ! 

These  fearful  exercises  had  such  an  influence  on  my  mind 
that  I  could  not  sleep  well  during  the  night,  and  it  was  difficult 
for  me  even  afterwards  to  get  rid  of  these  impressions  at  the 
convent.  The  end  of  the  ceremonies  was,  perhaps,  the  saddest 
part.  Mothers  carried  their  children  to  the  Turkish  priest,  who 
put  them  on  the  floor;  and  when  he  had  placed  them  side  by 
side,  he  stepped  on  them  successively.  When  they  arose  from 
the  floor  they  were  held  by  the  mothers  and  then  they  kissed 
the  priest.  The  dervishes  had  done  the  same  during  the  exer¬ 
cises.  The  idea  of  these  performances  was  to  teach  respect  and 
obedience  for  authority  and  submission  to  Allah. 

The  27th  of  August  I  arose  early  in  the  morning.  The 
wretched  dogs  helped  to  keep  me  awake,  and  the  sleep  was  not  at 
all  satisfactory.  It  was  a  very  warm  day  and  I  must  go  out 
to  see  the  Sultan  at  selamlic,  or  prayer.  The  Sultan  goes  every 
Friday  to  some  mosque  to  pray.  This  worship  the  Turks  call 

[88] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


selamlic.  Together  with  a  Jew,  by  name  Eidenstein,  I  went  out 
on  a  street  car  to  see  this  performance.  We  went  out  on  the 
roof  of  the  car,  so  as  to  be  able  to  see  more  of  the  city.  We  were 
going  along  to  the  castle  Talmabagtsehe. 

We  came  to  the  mosque  and  got  a  good  place  right  opposite 
the  entrance.  The  selamlic  was  to  take  place  at  10:30  A.  M., 
but  we  had  to  wait  a  long  while  until  he  came.  A  great  throng 
had  gathered  at  the  mosque  and  there  we  stood  on  a  platform. 
There  was  quite  a  space  between  the  platform  and  the  mosque, 
and  this  space  they  covered  over  with  white  and  clean  sand. 
Here  we  sat,  waiting  patiently  for  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  in  the 
basking  sunshine.  About  12  :30  a  group  of  soldiers  were  marched 
into  the  open  space  where  we  were  sitting.  They  arranged  them¬ 
selves  in  a  circle  in  this  open  space  in  front  of  the  mosque.  After 
the  soldiers  came  a  number  of  well-dressed  officials  in  uniform 
and  last  of  all,  surrounded  with  a  strong  guard,  came  Mohammed 
V,  sitting  in  an  open  carriage.  I  was  very  near  to  him  and  could 
see  him  distinctly.  He  looked  quite  old  and  gray,  and  was 
dressed  in  a  blue  uniform  with  a  red  fez  on  his  head.  His  eyes 
were  sharp  and  portruding,  but  on  the  whole  his  appearance  was 
not  unpleasant. 

Just  as  he  came  within  the  line  of  soldiers  the  band  ceased 
to  play  and  everything  became  very  quiet.  One  of  the  men  in 
out  line — I  think  it  was  an  American — began  to  hurrah,  but 
quick  as  a  flash  came  a  soldier  and  stopped  him,  and  advised 
him  to  put  on  his  hat.  At  occasions  of  this  kind  the  Christians 
must  take  off  their  hats,  but  the  Mohammedans  may  remain 
covered  all  the  time,  and  so  they  did  here.  There  we  stood  with 
uncovered  heads  in  the  hot  sun,  and  his  carriage  stopped  in  front 
of  us.  He  looked  very  kindly  towards  us,  stepped  out  of  the 
carriage  and  went  into  the  mosque.  He  was  walking  somewhat 
stooped,  and  with  a  sword  at  his  side.  Then  the  muezzin  in  the 

[89] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


minaret  above  began  to  call  out  the  time  for  prayer,  singing  his 
monotonous  song  in  his  usual  way.  Thereupon  the  Sultan  en¬ 
tered  the  mosque  to  offer  his  prayer  to  Allah.  The  idea  of  this 
custom  is  not  only  that  the  Sultan  should  set  an  example  to  his 
people  to  worship  Allah,  but  that  he  might  give  the  common 
people  an  occasion  to  see  the  ruler  of  Turkey. 

In  the  afternoon  I  went  down  to  Galata  Bridge,  crossed  the 
same  and  went  to  the  right  on  the  other  side.  I  wanted  to  see 
the  bazaars  and  study  the  folk-life  in  them.  Having  gone  a  few 
blocks  along  a  certain  street,  I  could  not  go  further,  because  my 
organ  of  smell  rebelled  and  compelled  me  to  return.  Since  I 
could  not  go  to  the  bazaars,  I  determined  to  visit  Hagia  Sophia 
once  more,  to  remind  myself  of  days  gone  by  in  the  history  of 
the  Christian  church.  As  I  was  walking  along  the  open  space  at 
the  mosque,  I  felt  that  we  as  Christians  should  do  our  very  best 
to  keep  burning  the  light  that  God  in  His  infinite  love  has  given 
us.  He  who  knows  the  history  of  the  Christian  church,  and  can 
remain  unmoved  in  the  shadow  of  the  Hagia  Sophia,  has  not 
the  right  conception  of  the  Christian  church.  Having  seen  for 
the  last  time  the  mosque  at  near  range,  I  returned  to  my  hotel, 
and  thus  my  promenades  in  the  city  of  Constantine  were  mostly 
finished. 

And  now  a  word  as  to  my  general  impression  of  Constan¬ 
tinople.  Remember  that  Turkey  is  half  civilized,  and,  perhaps, 
not  even  that.  It  is  to  a  great  extent  bound  in  the  fetters  of 
barbarism.  What,  then,  can  you  expect  ?  Only  a  few  days’ visit 
will  convince  anyone  that  there  is  a  great  difference  between  a 
Christian  and  a  heathen  city.  And  then  the  dirt  that  we  find 
in  this  city!  Filth  and  poverty  are  staring  you  in  the  face, 
wheresoever  you  go.  Now  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  there  are 
no  sins  in  our  cities,  but  we  are,  so  to  speak,  able  to  conceal 
them  more  than  the  Turks.  I  observed  one  thing  that  made  me 

[90] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


feel  glad,  and  it  was  this,  I  saw  none  of  the  Mohammedans 
drinking  either  wine  or  beer,  but  the  so-called  Christians  were 
drinking  whiskey,  wine  and  beer  very  freely.  You  can  never 
induce  a  Mohammedan  to  drink  strong  drinks.  That  is  against 
his  religion,  and  he  is  true  to  his  principles.  This  is  a  bright 
side  in  the  social  life  of  the  Turks.  But  if  there  is  a  bright 
spot  here  and  there  in  the  social  life  of  the  Turks,  there  are  on 
the  other  side  so  many  sins  and  so  many  dark  shadows  in  their 
life  that  they  hide  the  good.  There  is  little  or  no  honesty  among 
the  Turks,  as  for  instance,  when  they  exchange  money.  If  you 
do  not  know  the  value  of  Turkish  money  when  you  go  into 
Turkey,  you  are  in  a  very  bad  predicament  and  the  likelihood  is 
that  you  will  have  to  pay  for  learning  the  value  of  their  money. 
You  fall  in  among  robbers  every  time  you  attempt  to  exchange 
money. 

Conditions  in  Turkey  during  the  regime  of  the  Sultan  Abdul 
Hamid  became  unbearable.  Revolution  was  bound  to  come  and 
it  did  come.  We  have  a  very  faint  idea  generally  of  the  nature 
of  the  government  that  the  deposed  Sultan  gave  his  people  here 
at  the  Yildiz  kiosk  on  the  Bosporus.  He  manifested  an  unsur¬ 
passed  cruelty  and  the  world  will  never  know  the  details  of 
that  cruelty. 

Just  think  of  the  beautiful  scenery  round  about  here,  and 
of  the  filth  and  sin  within  this  city !  Here  the  old  adage  is  true : 
“Only  man  is  vile.”  As  you  look  at  the  city  from  a  distance 
you  have  a  most  excellent  view.  See  all  those  minarets,  the 
cypress  hedges,  the  Sea  of  Marmora,  the  Bosporus  and  all  the 
vessels  in  the  harbors,  and  on  the  waters  beyond !  And  yonder 
in  Bithynia  you  see  the  snow-clad  Olympus.  Here  by  the  Yildiz 
kiosk  there  are  thousands  of  acres  that  are  laid  out  in  parks, 
and  a  whole  multitude  of  buildings  are  erected  here.  This  area 
is  surrounded  by  a  wall  of  stone  35  feet  high,  and  there  is  no 

[91] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


window  in  it.  The  harem  buildings,  where  Abdul  Hamid  and 
his  six  hundred  women  used  to  live,  are  separated  from  the  parks 
by  a  still  higher  wall.  Here  are  artificial  lakes,  their  surfaces 
picturesquely  dotted  by  snow-white  swans.  Here  are  conserva¬ 
tories,  containing  plants,  flowers  and  trees  of  many  kinds,  native 
as  well  as  exotic.  Thousands  of  white  doves  spread  their  graceful 
wings  against  the  clear  blue  of  the  background.  The  inclosure 
contains  also  a  porcelain  factory,  a  menagerie  and  a  museum. 
The  impression  one  gathers  here  is  that  he  is  visiting  some 
foreign  university. 

Within  these  walls  no  foreigner  could  enter;  but  this  is  now 
the  property  of  the  people,  and  anyone  may  enter  here  without 
danger  to  his  life.  If  anyone  had  been  found  walking  around 
here  during  the  reign  of  Abdul  Hamid,  it  would  not  have  taken 
long  ere  he  would  be  thrown  in  the  Bosporus  and  become  food 
for  the  fishes.  Here  lived  this  “man  of  sin”  for  a  long  time, 
but  his  days  as  a  ruler  were  numbered.  Here  you  see  the  room 
in  which  Abdul  Hamid  was  informed  that  his  reign  of  terror 
had  come  to  an  end,  and  that  he  had  to  reap  what  he  had  sown, 
just  like  every  other  mortal.  Here  he  used  to  sit  and  condemn 
to  death  such  unfortunates  as  his  spies  had  brought  to  him. 

Two  of  his  spies,  who  had  no  scruples  as  to  what  they  did, 
were  Fehmi,  the  most  prominent  of  his  spies,  and  Mehmed,  the 
executioner.  These  two  men  received  the  reward  of  their  work. 
The  first  one  was  torn  to  pieces  by  a  raging  mob,  some  years  ago, 
and  the  last  one  was  hanged  in  the  Month  of  July,  1909.  When 
Abdul  Hamid  was  deposed  one  of  the  most  blood-thirsty  tyrants 
that  the  world  had  ever  seen  was  deprived  of  his  fiendish  power. 

But  there  is  only  one  thing  that  will  save  Turkey.  It  is  the 
Gospel  of  the  living  Savior,  and  nothing  else.  A  great  many  of 
the  messengers  of  the  Master  are  already  in  the  Turkish  Empire ; 
many  more  are  coming,  and  it  is  the  story  of  the  man  from 

[92] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Galilee  that  will  change  the  customs  and  the  manners  of  the 
Turks  and  bring  in  a  new  life  and  new  customs  among  the  down¬ 
trodden  followers  of  Mohammed.  May  the  gospel  of  peace  soon 
come  to  this  people  in  their  darkness,  and  may  they  soon  see  the 
glorious  light.  Then  Turkey  will  be  regenerated. 


I  93] 


Chapter  V 


FROM  CONSTANTINOPLE  TO  ATHENS 

EARLY  in  the  morning,  the  26th  of  August,  I  gathered  my 
things  together  and  prepared  for  my  departure  from  Con¬ 
stantinople.  The  boat  was  to  depart  at  9  :15  A.  M.,  but  it  did  not 
go  before  10.  I  sat  down  on  the  deck,  where  I  had  a  splendid 
view  of  the  whole  vicinity,  and  especially  of  the  wharf.  There 
was  a  great  throng  of  people  there  to  witness  the  departure  of 
the  boat.  And  such  a  mixture  of  a  crowd  I  had  never  seen 
before  anywhere. 

It  is  a  peculiar  sight  to  see  those  thousands  of  fezes  moving 
around  in  this  great  throng.  There  are  a  lot  of  hammals  who 
bring  baggage  down  to  the  boat  for  the  passengers;  there  you 
also  find  venders  of  various  kinds,  who  offer  their  goods  to  the 
passengers.  Some  were  sitting  around,  doing  nothing ;  others 
were  busy  loading  the  boat,  and  their  clothes  were  literally  wet 
because  of  profuse  perspiration. 

But  at  last  the  boat  is  ready  to  depart.  Polacky  pulls  in 
the  anchors,  makes  a  turn  in  the  bay  and  steams  out  into  the 
Sea  of  Marmora.  Yonder  on  the  shore  thousands  of  people  are 
waving  their  handkerchiefs,  hats  and  red  fezes.  I  sat  on  the 
deck  and  observed  this  remarkable  panorama.  What  a  sight 
it  is  to  look  back  on  this  ancient  city  of  Constantine !  Yonder 
is  Stambul  with  the  Hagia  Sophia  and  the  railroad  station;  on 
the  other  side  are  Pera,  Galata  and  Scutari,  with  its  numbers 
of  minarets  pointing  skyward.  Surely  this  with  its  historic 
background  is  a  most  overwhelming  panorama,  which,  if  you 

[94] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


have  once  seen  it,  will  never  be  eradicated  from  your  mind.  But 
while  this  view  is  so  majestic,  it  loses  some  of  its  charm  when 
you  consider  the  inner  life  of  the  city,  its  dirty,  crooked  streets 
and  its  no  less  dirty  immorality.  As  long  as  I  could  I  looked 
back  upon  the  city  and  especially  the  Hagia  Sophia,  How  can 
a  Christian  desist  from  thinking  of  this  mosque  and  its  history? 
As  our  boat  was  speeding  along  on  the  waters  of  Marmora  in  the 
beautiful  sunshine,  I  sat  and  wondered  why  the  Lord  permitted 
this  magnificent  temple  to  be  taken  from  the  Christian  church, 
and  to  be  thus  desecrated  by  the  Mohammedans.  While  I  was 
thus  pondering,  these  words  resounded  in  my  soul :  ‘  ‘  Whosoever 
hath  not  from  him  shall  be  taken  away  even  that  which  he 
hath”  (Matt.  13:12).  The  reader  will  remember  that  the  Chris¬ 
tian  world,  at  the  time  when  the  Mohammedans  spread  their 
dark  veil  over  the  world,  was  ensnared  in  the  fetters  of  super¬ 
stition  and  dead  orthodoxy.  The  Christian  world  had  lost  its 
life-power  and  no  doubt  a  good  many  thought  that  there  was 
no  harm  in  changing  faith  with  the  Mohammedans.  Even  this 
thought  is  now,  to  a  certain  extent,  going  through  the  world 
and  is  finding  some  adherents.  The  Lord  has  sent  a  solemn  word 
of  warning  to  His  church  in  all  times.  The  Master  said  to  the 
angel  in  the  church  of  Ephesus:  “I  shall  remove  the  candlestick 
from  its  place,  unless  you  repent”  (Rev.  2:5). 

The  people  in  these  countries  are  now  in  the  darkness  of 
the  night  from  a  spiritual  point  of  view,  and  grope  in  darkness 
morally  and  religiously.  Here  are  object  lessons  for  us  in  these 
times,  and  here  we  have  a  solemn  warning  that  unless  we  make 
proper  use  of  our  God-given  privileges,  we  shall  lose  them,  and 
they  shall  be  given  to  others  who  know  how  to  make  proper  use 
of  them.  This  is  a  fundamental  law  in  the  kingdom  of  God: 
Use  the  grace  that  God  has  given  you  in  a  proper  way,  and  if 
you  do  not  do  so,  He  will  take  it  away  from  you.  If  you  wish 

[  95  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


to  have  an  example  of  the  application  of  this  law,  go  to  the 
Orient,  and  yon  can  see  it  clearly  everywhere. 

As  I  was  meditating  on  these  questions,  the  city  of  Constan¬ 
tinople  vanished  below  the  waves  of  the  Marmora,  and  our  boat 
was  making  good  speed  to  the  other  end  of  the  sea.  Many  of  the 
passengers  were  sitting  on  the  deck  in  the  hot  sunshine.  Now 
and  then  the  Asiatic  shores  on  the  left  side  of  the  boat  vanished 
from  our  sight.  Here  and  there  rocky  cliffs  stuck  their  tops 
over  the  surface  of  the  sea.  They  are  the  Prince  Islands.  To 
the  right  of  us  we  see  land  all  the  time.  The  coast  is  that  of 
ancient  Thrace.  It  seemed  to  be  a  barren  and  desolate  country. 
Under  the  Turkish  scepter  you  cannot  expect  that  the  poverty- 
stricken  people  should  be  able  to  develop  and  assume  an  aspect 
of  prosperity.  Poor  people  that  must  live  under  such  a  govern¬ 
ment  ! 

But  as  we  go  along  let  us  remind  ourselves  that  we  are 
sailing  on  the  Propontis  of  the  ancient  world.  It  was  a  very 
pleasant  journey,  and  no  storms  were  now  tossing  our  vessel. 
To  the  right  of  us  we  see  the  place  where  the  ancient  Athyra 
was  located.  Here  we  observe  some  trees  on  the  hills  around 
about,  and  yet  the  vicinity  further  off  looks  so  naked  and  desolate. 
In  the  background  you  find  parts  of  an  old  bridge,  over  which 
the  ancient  Egnantia  passed  into  Thrace  and  Macedonia. 
This  old  road  extended  along  the  coast  to  Silinvri.  Here  was  the 
old  Selymbria,  where  some  parts  of  old  Byzantine  fortresses  stuck 
up  their  heads  from  the  lonely  hills.  A  little  further  on  we  pass 
a  promontory,  in  the  neighborhood  of  which  lies  the  island  of 
Marmora,  the  greatest  island  in  this  sea.  We  are  going  a  little 
closer  to  the  shore,  and  we  come  to  the  western  end  of  Marmora. 
The  Via  Egnantia  stretches  further  inland  and  we  can  see  noth¬ 
ing  of  it. 


[96] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


This  ancient  highway  had  a  great  significance  for  the  Roman 
Empire.  Along  these  roads  the  soldiers  of  the  emperor  would 
carry  the  Roman  eagles  to  the  various  parts  of  the  empire,  where 
they  would  maintain  order  and  discipline.  The  reader  is  familiar 
with  the  significance  of  these  roads  in  the  spread  of  the  Christian 
religion.  These  roads  served  as  a  kind  of  artery  for  the  great 
empire.  Along  these  roads  the  merchants  were  carrying  their 
merchandise  to  distant  lands,  and  along  these  same  roads  the 
Apostles  would  speed  along  with  the  great  message  of  peace 
and  joy  for  a  lost  and  condemned  world.  It  is  very  strange  that 
the  ungodly  and  the  wicked  must  in  their  way  help,  even  against 
their  will,  to  bring  the  message  onward  in  the  world. 

On  the  boat  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  Greek,  whose 
name  was  Georgis  Theodorides,  a  merchant  from  Constantinople. 
He  spoke  French  very  well  and  we  became  quite  friendly. 

This  man  gave  me  some  information  about  Constantinople 
and  its  government,  and  how  the  Turks  are  unfair  in  their  treat¬ 
ment  of  other  people  who  live  in  the  city.  He  said  that  there 
are  400,000  Turks  in  the  city,  300,000  Greeks,  150,000  Arme¬ 
nians,  50,000  Jews,  50,000  Europeans  and  50,000  of  other  nation¬ 
alities,  but  in  the  city  council  there  are  6  Turks,  2  Greeks,  2 
Armenians  and  1  Jew.  Mr.  Theodorides  was  not  pleased  with 
this  “  stepmotherly  ”  treatment  of  the  Greeks. 

Conversing  about  these  things,  we  went  into  the  Dar¬ 
danelles  ;  and,  as  we  steamed  into  this  sound,  we  had  on  the  right 
Gallipoli.  The  sea  is  about  two  miles  wide  at  this  place.  The 
city,  whose  old  name  was  Kallipolis — which  name  signifies  ‘  ‘  beau¬ 
tiful  city” — is  located  on  a  very  beautiful  place  on  the  shore 
of  the  sea.  It  contains  about  16,000  inhabitants.  In  1357  A.  D. 
it  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Turks. 

Formerly  this  city  carried  on  a  very  lively  trade,  but  under 
the  scepter  of  the  Sultan  it  does  practically  nothing  to  keep  up 


[97] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


this  trade  with  other  countries.  The  city  looks  very  dingy 
within  and  has  the  mark  of  poverty  and  misery.  On  the  opposite 
side,  or  the  Asiatic  shore,  is  located  the  little  town  of  Lapsaki. 
According  to  the  ancient  sages  here  was  the  seat  of  an  unchaste 
cult,  and  it  was  here  that  Priapus  was  born  of  Aphrodite. 

We  are  now  going  through  the  Dardanelles,  the  Hellespont 
of  the  ancient  world,  a  sound  less  than  a  mile  wide  in  certain 
places.  This  strait  separates  Chersonesos  from  Asia  Minor. 
The  shores  are  quite  high  and  beautiful.  Small  brooks  run  down 
the  banks  here  and  there.  According  to  the  old  sages  this  sound 
received  its  name  in  the  following  way.  The  King  of  Boeotia, 
Athamus,  wished  to  do  away  with  his  two  sons,  Phrixus  and 
Helle,  whom  he  had  begotten  through  his  rejected  queen,  Nephele. 
The  two  sons  fled  and  the  last-named  drowned  while  he  fled  over 
the  sea  on  a  ram  with  a  golden  skin.  Because  of  this  the  sound 
is  called  Hellespont.  The  other  son  came  to  Mingrelia  and 
stayed  there  with  the  king,  Chalchis,  and  this  king  took  very 
good  care  of  the  skin.  Now  the  heroes  of  Greece,  wishing  to 
recover  the  skin,  undertook  an  expedition ;  and  because  of  the 
name  of  the  ship  in  which  they  sailed,  it  is  called  the  Argonautic 
expedition. 

The  sound  is  now  called  the  Dardanelles,  because  of  the 
city  located  on  the  Asiatic  side.  The  sages  tell  us  that  Dardanos 
came  from  the  island  of  Samothrace  to  Troad,  and  that  he 
founded  a  kingdom  that  existed  before  Troy. 

At  10  P.  M.  we  passed  Ak-Baschi-Liman,  a  bay  that  turns 
into  Chersonesos.  From  the  Asiatic  side  we  saw  a  promontory 
jutting  out  into  the  Dardanelles,  by  the  name  Nagara.  This  is 
the  place  where  Xerxes  made  a  bridge  over  the  Dardanelles  in 
480  B.  C.,  when  he  came  on  his  unfortunate  expedition  to  con¬ 
quer  the  Greeks.  It  was  between  Sestos  and  Abydos  that  this 
great  pontoon  bridge  was  built.  According  to  the  measurements, 

[98] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


the  sound  is  at  this  place  about  4,050  feet  across.  It  is  the 
Heptastadion  of  the  ancient  world.  We  have  read  how  the 
mighty  King  of  Persia  had  decided  to  crush  the  mighty  King  of 
Greece,  and  how  he  gathered  an  army  of  2,317,000  soldiers.  This 
number  is,  perhaps,  too  large,  and  if  we  say  that  his  army  con¬ 
sisted  of  900,000,  we  are  nearer  the  correct  number. 

When  the  bridge  was  ready  for  the  second  time — the  reader 
will  recall  that  his  first  bridge  was  torn  to  pieces  by  a  storm, 
and  that  he  then  caused  the  soldiers  to  whip  the  billows  as  a 
punishment  for  their  madness — he  gave  the  command  that  his 
army  should  pass  over,  having  first  offered  prayers  to  his  gods. 
When  the  rays  of  the  rising  sun  touched  the  bridge,  the  march 
began,  and  for  seven  days  and  seven  nights  this  march  continued 
to  the  European  shore.  The  world  never  saw  such  an  army 
before. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  romance  connected  with  the  Dar¬ 
danelles.  Every  night  Leander  swam  across  from  Abydos  to 
Sestos  to  call  on  his  beloved  Hero,  the  priestess  of  Aphrodite 
in  that  city.  He  was  run  over  by  a  boat  and  was  drowned.  It 
is  perhaps  known  how  Lord  Byron  swam  across  between  these 
two  places — a  daring  feat. 

While  we  passed  along  this  historic  ground,  the  moon  was 
shining.  The  moonlight  in  the  Orient  is  very  bright,  much 
brighter  than  in  the  Occident.  I  shall  never  forget  this  inter¬ 
esting  evening.  My  friend  Theodorides  sat  with  me  on  deck, 
until  it  was  very  late,  and  we  conversed  about  the  happenings  on 
this  sound.  Just  as  we  passed  the  fortress  Kalei-Sultanije,  two 
cannon  shots  were  fired,  and  this  was  a  sign  that  all  was  clear 
for  our  passage.  This  fort  is  called  by  the  Europeans,  the  Dar¬ 
danelles.  A  little  after  10  P.  M.  our  steamer  passed  into  the 
Aegean  Sea,  making  a  turn  to  the  left  in  a  southwesterly  direc¬ 
tion.  On  the  point  of  Chersonesos  is  a  little  town  by  the  name 

[99] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


of  Sed-Ul--Bahr-Kalessi.  A  lighthouse  shone  on  the  shore  as 
we  passed  by. 

Do  you  wonder  that  I  am  awake  and  on  the  deck  watching 
at  this  late  hour?  You  must  remember  that  we  are  about  to  pass 
into  the  territory  of  which  the  Bible  speaks,  and  it  is  for  this 
reason  that  I  am  standing  on  the  deck  with  the  Bible  in  my 
hand.  I  stood  there  until  the  midnight  hour,  watching  the 
various  islands  round  about  us  as  we  sailed  along. 

When  I  looked  out  over  the  Aegean  Sea  as  we  emerged  from 
the  Dardanelles,  we  had  to  the  left  a  promontory  where  the  River 
Skamander  enters  into  the  sound.  Along  this  river  is  the  Asiatic 
plain.  Homer  calls  this  plain  Asia.  It  extends  southward  to 
the  mountain,  Bas  Dagh,  or  Mt.  Ida,  of  ancient  times.  Along 
the  river,  about  three  miles  from  the  land,  lies  Hissarlik  (Castle 
Place).  Here  are  a  lot  of  ruins,  and  according  to  latest  investi¬ 
gations,  the  old  Troja  was  located  here.  Not  only  the  city,  but 
the  whole  province  was  called  Troad.  On  this  plain  ancient  Troy 
was  located,  with  its  renowned  fortress,  Illion.  On  this  plain 
the  Greeks  were  lying  when  they  beleaguered  the  city  and  cap¬ 
tured  it. 

While  our  steamer  was  going  out  of  the  Dardanelles  into 
the  sea,  we  noticed  to  the  left  of  the  shore  two  hills,  where  it  is 
said  that  the  ashes  of  Achilles  and  Patrocles  are  buried.  As  we 
came  out  of  the  sound,  our  boat  kept  close  to  the  European  side, 
because  of  the  strong  current  at  this  place.  It  is  more  dangerous 
to  go  near  the  Asiatic  shore.  Our  boat  passed  by  a  point  called 
Jenischehr,  the  Sigeion  of  the  ancients.  It  is  claimed  that 
Hercules  and  his  heroes  landed  on  this  point,  and  here  on  the 
plain  the  hordes  of  Xerxes  sallied  forth  to  subdue  the  Greeks. 

In  the  year  334  B.  C.  Alexander  of  Macedonia  landed  on  this 
coast,  as  he  went  out  on  his  great  expedition  to  conquer  Asia. 
When  Alexander  drew  near  the  grave  of  Achilles  his  martial 

[100] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


enthusiasm  was  kindled  and,  thinking  of  his  heroic  ancestors, 
he  determined  to  lay  the  whole  world  at  his  feet;  and  with  this 
thought  he  marched  into  Asia.  As  we  now  steam  away  in  a 
southwesterly  direction  and  leave  the  coast,  we  see  some  wind¬ 
mills  in  the  distance.  Looking  to  the  right  we  see  the  island  of 
Imbros  and  behind  this  the  island  of  Samoathrace  is  barely 
visible  in  the  distance. 

We  are  now  in  territory  spoken  of  in  the  Bible.  Saint  Paul 
sailed  by  here  in  these  waters  from  Troas  to  Macedonia  in  the 
year  52  A.  D.  Setting  out  on  his  second  missionary  journey 
from  Antioch  and  passing  through  Asia  Minor,  he  came  to 
Troas.  It  is  the  wonderful  missionary  to  the  Gentiles  who  is 
passing  by  at  this  place,  carrying  his  great  message  into  another 
continent.  Concerning  his  journey  in  these  sections  he  writes: 
“Now  when  they  had  gone  through  Phrygia  and  the  region  of 
Galatia  and  were  forbidden  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  preach  the 
word  in  Asia,  after  they  were  come  to  Mysia,  they  essayed  to 
go  into  Bithynia;  but  the  Spirit  suffered  them  not  and  they 
passed  by  Mysia  and  came  down  to  Troas  and  a  vision  appeared 
to  Paul  in  the  night ;  there  stood  a  man  of  Macedonia,  and  pray¬ 
ing  him,  saying,  come  over  into  Macedonia  and  help  us.  And 
after  he  had  seen  the  vision,  immediately  he  endeavored  to  go 
into  Macedonia,  assuredly  gathering  that  the  Lord  had  called 
us  to  preach  the  gospel  unto  them.  Therefore  loosing  from 
Troas  we  came  with  a  straight  course  to  Samothrace  and  the 
next  day  to  Neapolis;  and  from  thence  to  Philippi,  which  is 
the  chief  city  of  that  part  of  Macedonia,  and  a  colony;  and  we 
were  in  the  city  abiding  certain  days”  (Acts  16:8-12). 

It  was  at  Troas,  then,  that  he  received  his  vision  and  in  view 
of  this  he  went  to  the  new  world  to  proclaim  the  excellent  doc¬ 
trine  of  his  Redeemer  among  the  benighted  heathens  as  well  as 
among  the  Jews. 


[101] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


Paul  was  not  alone  on  this  his  first  journey  into  Europe. 
Luke,  Silas  and  Timothy  were  with  him.  They  were  on  their 
way  to  Macedonia  and  hence  he  passed  along  these  waters.  When 
Paul  returned  from  his  third  missionary  journey,  about  58  A.  D., 
he  passed  through  through  Macedonia,  and  landed  here  at  Troas, 
remaining  here  for  several  days.  Some  of  his  fellow-laborers, 
who  had  been  with  him  in  Greece,  went  directly  over  the  Aegean 
Sea  and  waited  for  him  here  at  Troas  (Acts  20 :4-6) . 

While  on  the  way  to  Macedonia,  after  having  been  in 
Ephesus  for  the  space  of  three  years,  he  says:  “ Furthermore, 
when  I  came  to  Troas  to  preach  Christ’s  gospel  and  a  door  was 
opened  unto  me  of  the  Lord,  I  had  no  rest  in  my  spirit,  because 
I  found  not  Titus  my  brother;  but  taking  my  leave  of  them,  I 
went  from  thence  into  Macedonia”  (II  Cor.  2:12-13). 

You  can  still  see  traces  of  the  harbor,  whence  Paul  sailed 
away  into  Macedonia,  Its  modern  or  Turkish  name  is  Eski- 
Stambul,  and  there  are  a  lot  of  ruins  not  far  from  the  shore. 
It  was  about  11  P.  M.  when  our  steamer  passed  these  historical 
places.  Deeply  interested  in  the  surroundings,  which  I  could 
see  quite  clearly  in  the  bright  moonlight  which  threw  its  weird 
radiance  over  the  entire  vicinity,  and  with  the  Bible  in  my  hand, 
I  sat  on  the  deck  until  about  12  o’clock.  Here  I  read  the  inter¬ 
esting  story  in  the  Acts  by  Saint  Luke  about  the  journey  of 
these  men  in  these  waters.  I  then  went  to  my  cabin  and  tried 
to  sleep  this  memorable  night,  a  night  which  I  shall  never  forget. 
Before  long  the  boat  passed  the  island  of  Tenedos,  to  the  left 
and  a  little  later  we  sighted  the  island  of  Limnos.  We  are  now  in 
the  Aegean  Sea,  and  we  have  islands  all  around  us.  Think  of 
all  the  expeditions  that  have  passed  over  this  sea  in  the  past 
centuries ! 

The  boat  was  the  very  best  and  was  swaying  but  little  during 
the  night.  Early  in  the  morning  I  was  on  the  deck  to  find  out 


[102] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


where  we  were  located,  and  then  we  saw  in  the  far  west  the 
island  of  Skyros,  sticking  its  treeless  head  out  of  the  water, 
and  further  ahead  was  the  island  of  Negropont.  It  was  Sunday, 
the  29th  of  August.  The  day  was  very  beautiful  and  warm. 
There  was  a  certain  haze  over  the  face  of  the  deep,  and  we 
could  not  see  far.  A  little  later  this  haze  passed  away.  Today 
we  are  going  to  land  in  Greece,  a  classic  country.  We  pass 
through  the  Oro  Canal,  with  the  island  of  Andros  to  the  left 
and  Negropont  to  the  right.  This  is  the  largest  of  the  Grecian 
islands,  and  has  a  population  of  about  100,000. 

These  islands  looked  naked  and  rocky,  and  it  was  a  question 
to  me  how  the  people  could  make  a  living  in  such  a  territory. 
Here  and  there  we  see  orchards  and  villages  along  the  shores. 
Now  we  come  to  a  group  of  islands  called  the  Cyclades.  The 
steamer  passes  between  the  mainland  and  the  island  of  Keos  to 
the  left.  Along  the  coast  is  a  long  island  called  Helena  or  Ma- 
cronesia,  or  the  large  island.  This  island  is  said  to  have  received 
its  name  from  the  circumstance  that  Helena,  the  queen,  who 
was  carried  away  to  Troy,  landed  here  either  on  her  way  to  Troy 
or  on  her  return  from  that  city. 

When  we  came  to  the  southern  end  of  this  island,  we  saw 
on  the  height  of  the  mainland  on  the  point  Sunion  or  Kolonnas, 
the  ruins  of  a  Poseidon  temple.  According  to  a  description, 
recently  discovered,  this  temple  was  built  413  B.  C.,  consequently 
during  the  Peloponnesian  War.  Along  the  route,  which  we  now 
traversed,  the  Persian  fleet  sailed  when  it  came  to  the  Bay  of 
Salamis  in  480  B.  C.  Then  the  Battle  of  Salamis  was  fought 
in  the  bay  under  the  leadership  of  Themistocles,  and  a  glorious 
victory  was  won. 

While  our  boat  ran  into  the  bay  we  saw  Salamis  clearly, 
quite  near  by  to  the  left.  On  the  mainland  is  still  shown  the 
elevated  place  where  Xerxes  stood  on  his  throne  and  saw  how 


[103] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


the  valiant  Greeks  cut  to  pieces  the  great  fleet  of  the  Persians. 
It  was  intensely  interesting  to  see  this  bay  and  the  surroundings 
as  we  entered  the  harbor  of  Piraeus.  While  we  were  several 
miles  out  in  the  Aegina  Bay  we  saw  the  Acropolis  on  the  Attic 
plain  towards  the  north.  Our  boat  stopped  in  the  bay  and 
anchored  there.  About  fifty  boats  gathered  around  us,  and 
their  occupants  wished  to  row  us  ashore  to  the  hotels,  either  at 
Piraeus  or  at  Athens.  In  every  boat  there  is  a  flag,  with  the 
name  of  the  hotel  which  the  boat  represents.  We  were  taken 
ashore  at  Piraeus,  where  we  walk  on  classical  ground  for  the 
first  time.  In  a  few  minutes  we  are  at  the  electric  station,  and 
a  fast  train  brings  us  over  the  plain  to  Athens.  We  register  at 
the  Grand  Hotel,  near  the  park  where  the  Royal  Castle  is  lo¬ 
cated.  My  friend  Theodorides  and  I  take  a  room  together  in 
this  hotel.  We  are  at  the  capital  of  the  Greeks,  or  the  Hellenes. 


[104] 


Chapter  VI 

IN  ATHENS  AND  CORINTH 


ON  classic  ground !  What  a  thought  for  the  student !  Hav¬ 
ing  had  dinner  and  rested  a  little,  I  resolved  to  go  to 
Areopagus.  I  went  through  the  old  town  and  came  to  Areopa¬ 
gus  at  5.05  P.  M.  This  hill  is  about  345  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea  and  is  located  a  little  to  the  northwest  from  the  Acro¬ 
polis  and  slopes  a  little  to  the  west.  At  the  southeast  side 
there  is  a  stair  with  sixteen  steps,  hewn  in  the  solid  rock.  No 
doubt  the  Greeks  used  to  go  up  on  this  stair,  and  in  all  prob¬ 
ability  this  stair  was  used  when  the  Greeks  brought  Paul  up 
on  the  Areopagus  or  Mars  Hill.  I  felt  a  chill  pass  through  my 
body,  as  I  came  up  on  this  hill  and  considered  that  I  was  on 
such  historic  ground.  I  sat  down  and  read  the  speech  of  Saint 
Paul,  which  he  delivered  before  the  heathen  Greeks  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  52.  It  was  at  Athens  that  he  met  the  Epicurean 
and  Stoic  philosophers  and  some  of  them  said,  “What  will  this 
babbler  say  ?  ’  ’  Others  said,  ‘  ‘  He  seemed  to  be  a  setter  forth  of 
strange  gods,  because  he  preached  unto  them  Jesus  and  the 
resurrection 7 7  (Acts  17:18).  They  took  him  and  brought  him 
to  Areopagus  and  there  he  delivered  his  excellent  speech.  Paul 
did  not  preach  in  vain.  It  is  true  that  some  mocked  when  they 
heard  him  preach  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead ;  but  when  he 
departed  from  them,  certain  men  clave  to  him,  among  which 
were  Dionysus,  who  later  is  called  the  Areopagite,  a  woman 
named  Damaris,  and  others  with  them.  Thus  it  was  not  in 
vain  to  sow  the  good  seed. 


[105] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


This  hill  has  its  historical  interest  for  ns  as  Christians,  but 
it  has  its  significance  and  interest  also  from  a  purely  classical 
point  of  view.  It  is  called  Mars’  hill  (Areopagus),  because  the 
war-god  Mars,  according  to  the  ancient  mythology,  was  tried 
on  this  hill  for  having  committed  murder.  A  court,  called 
Areopagus,  held  its  sessions  here  during  the  night.  Court 
proceedings  were  held  during  the  night,  and  under  the  open 
sky,  so  that  the  breath  of  the  criminals  would  not  contaminate 
others. 

Questions  regarding  morality  and  religion  were  considered 
by  this  court.  It  was  this  court  that  condemned  Socrates  to 
death,  and  we  see  that  this  court  had  the  same  function  in  the 
time  of  Paul.  Here  and  there  on  this  hill  you  see  the  solid 
rock  cut  even  into  squares,  rectangles  and  parallelograms.  Per¬ 
haps  it  was  on  this  very  spot  that  the  court  held  its  sessions? 

From  Mars’  hill  you  have  an  excellent  view  over  the  Attic 
plain.  As  you  look  to  the  north  over  the  city,  it  appears  as  if 
it  had  been  built  yesterday.  The  houses  are,  nearly  all,  white 
iand  clean.  East  of  Areopagus  is  the  Acropolis;  only  a  little 
distance,  and  to  the  northeast  is  Lycabettos,  quite  a  high  hill. 
Yonder  in  the  distance  to  the  northeast  you  see  Pentelicon,  and 
to  the  west  the  mountain  range  Aegalios. 

Here  on  Mars’  hill  I  sat  a  long  time  meditating  and  one 
drama  after  another  passed  in  review  before  my  mind.  As  I 
returned  to  the  hotel,  I  determined  to  go  via  Acropolis,  al¬ 
though  it  was  somewhat  late.  I  had  been  alone  on  Areopagus 
with  my  Bible  and  now  I  went  alone  to  the  top  of  Acropolis. 
At  the  upper  end  of  the  stair  on  the  west  side  there  were  some 
houses  and  a  kind  of  portal,  which  they  were  repairing  at  this 
time.  On  the  Acropolis  I  found  an  American,  who  went  about 
with  the  Baedecker  in  his  hand.  I  asked  him  if  he  had  been  on 
the  Areopagus,  and  he  answered,  “There  is  nothing  to  see.”  I 


[  106  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


answered,  It  all  depends  upon  what  you  are  interested  in.  As 
for  my  part  I  saw  a  great  deal  there.” 

There  are  many  who  are  interested  in  the  historical  only, 
but  as  soon  as  it  pertains  to  the  religious  and  spiritual  ques¬ 
tions,  they  lose  interest  and  think  they  know  all  they  need  to 
know.  Interested  in  the  Acropolis,  but  not  in  the  Areopagus, 
where  one  of  the  greatest  sons  of  the  race  has  proclaimed  the 
gospel  of  salvation !  Strange,  indeed  ! 

At  last  we  are  on  the  Acropolis  and  walk  about  among  its 
ruins.  Think  of  the  beautiful  buildings  that  once  stood  here 
and  were  the  beauty  of  ancient  Hellas !  On  the  south  side  of 
the  Acropolis,  at  the  middle  of  the  top  lies  Parthenon,  the  most 
renowned  building  in  Athens. 

It  is  well  known  that  in  ancient  times  fortresses  were  built 
on  high  hills.  The  cities  grew  in  the  course  of  time  down  the 
hillsides  and  on  the  plain  near  by.  This  was  done  in  order 
that  the  people  in  time  of  danger  might  have  access  to  the  for¬ 
tress,  where  they  could  defend  themselves.  Temples  were  built 
on  the  high  hills  where  the  fortress  had  been,  to  the  honor  of 
the  gods  and  the  goddesses.  The  Acropolis  was  called  in  view 
of  this,  “The  city  of  the  gods.”  There  were  many  temples  on 
this  hill,  built  to  the  honor  of  the  gods,  but  there  was  no  temple  in 
Greece  that  could  be  compared  with  the  Parthenon.  It  was  the 
masterpiece  of  Grecian  architecture.  It  was  the  work  of  Phidias 
that  gave  this  sanctuary  such  a  glory,  and  inside  of  it  there 
were  many  works  of  the  sculptor. 

During  the  course  of  time  this  building  has  served  as  a 
heathen  temple,  as  a  Christian  church,  and  as  a  Mohammedan 
mosque.  In  1687  it  was  used  as  a  storehouse  for  powder,  dur¬ 
ing  the  war  of  the  Turks  with  the  Venetians.  It  was  during 
this  war  that  this  building  was  struck  by  a  cannon  ball  with 
the  consequence  that  this  masterpiece  of  architecture  was 


[107] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


ruined.  Many  of  the  pillars  on  the  south  side  were  knocked 
to  pieces.  At  present  they  are  trying  to  reconstruct  it. 

Here  you  see  the  past  glory  of  Greece  in  ruins.  At  the 
southeast  corner  we  find  the  Dionysian  theatre.  There  you  see 
it  wide  open  with  its  seats  and  standing  room  for  the  thou¬ 
sands  who  used  to  come  here. 

Now,  my  dear  reader,  do  you  know  anything  of  the  theatre 
in  those  days?  If  you  do,  you  know  what  influence  it  exerted 
on  the  social  life  at  that  time.  Listen  to  a  statement  of  Seneca, 
a  man  who  lived  in  the  time  of  the  Apostles,  “One  will  hardly 
leave  the  theatre  without  having  become  more  vain  and  volup¬ 
tuous.  Nothing  is  so  injurious  to  good  morals  as  to  see  a  play.” 
Flavius  Josephus,  the  Jewish  historian,  said,  when  Herod  in¬ 
troduced  theatrical  shows  in  Jerusalem,  that  it  “tended  to 
corrupt  the  morals  of  the  Jewish  nation,  to  bring  the  people 
into  love  with  pagan  idolatry,  and  to  throw  contempt  on  the 
law  of  Moses.” 

And  what  shall  we  say  of  the  theatre  in  our  own  time  ?  Is 
it  any  better?  Is  the  influence  for  good  or  for  bad?  All  you 
need  to  do  is  to  study  the  theatre  of  the  present  day,  and  you 
can  form  your  own  idea.  There  is  the  moving  picture  show. 
Do  you  know,  that  about  70  percent  of  the  pictures  shown  at 
these  theatres  today, are  obscene  and  immoral?  And  yet  you 
think  that  they  exert  no  influence  for  the  bad?  Listen  to  the 
editor  of  the  Outlook,  “The  stage  has  been  given  over  to  a 
dreary  monotony  of  seduction  and  adultery.  Even  the  tough¬ 
ened  taste  of  the  many  who  want  to  be  amused  and  are  in¬ 
different  to  the  morality  of  the  means  of  entertainment,  has 
revolted  against  the  entire  surrender  of  the  stage  to  these  re¬ 
volting  plots.  Vulgarity  and  impurity  have  reigned  supreme.” 
Lit.  Digest,  May  4th,  1895. 


[108] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


An  actor  in  Texas  is  quoted  as  saying,  “It  was  hard  for  me 
to  bury  my  six  daughters,  but  rather  than  let  my  two  sons  go 
upon  the  stage,  I  would  bury  them  also.”  These  are  solemn 
words,  and  words  from  lips  that  knew  by  experience  what  the 
theatre  stands  for.  And  yet  people  flock  by  the  thousands  to 
the  theatre  and  see  no  wrong  in  it.  0,  tempora,  o,  mores ! 
What  can  you  testify  as  to  the  morals  of  the  present  day 
theatre  and  the  influence  it  gives  ?  Truly  we  find  that  it  is  not 
an  institution  for  the  good  of  the  nation.  How  can  it  be? 

To  the  southwest  of  the  Acropolis  is  a  lower  hill  called 
Museon.  This  hill  is  literally  covered  with  ruins.  On  its 
northern  slope,  a  little  to  the  southwest  of  the  Acropolis,  is 
what  is  called  Nymph  Hill.  Here  is  Pnyx.  Here  is  a  circular 
excavation  in  the  hill,  and  it  reminds  us  of  a  theatre.  Here  the 
people  of  Athens  used  to  gather  and  listen  to  their  great 
orators.  Here  is  a  pulpit ;  and  it  is  claimed  that  Pericles  and 
Demosthenes  used  to  stand  by  this  pulpit  and  speak  to  the  peo¬ 
ple.  A  little  to  the  southeast  from  this  theatre-like  excava¬ 
tion  is  the  prison  of  Socrates,  cut  out  in  the  hill.  It  is  not  cer¬ 
tain  that  this  is  the  place,  even  if  tradition  points  to  this  hollow 
in  the  hill.  It  must  have  been  somewhere  in  this  vicinity  that 
he  was  constrained  to  drink  the  death-bringing  hemlock,  that 
fatal  morning.  The  reader  is,  perhaps,  familiar  with  the  life 
of  Socrates  and  the  closing  words  of  that  philosopher  before 
he  courageously  drank  the  fatal  cup.  If  you  know  nothing 
of  this  man,  you  had  better  look  him  up.  It  is  worth  while. 
Good  was  the  man,  indeed,  who  could  pray,  “Give  me  the 
interior  beauty  of  the  soul.”  No  wonder  Erasmus  exclaimed, 
“When  I  read  something  of  this  sort  concerning  such  men,  I 
can  hardly  refrain  from  saying,  ‘Sancte  Socrate,  ora  pro 
nobis.’  ”  How  grand  were  his  closing  words,  “It  is  now  time 
that  we  depart,  I  to  die,  and  you  to  live,  but  which  has  the  bet- 


[109] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


ter  destiny  is  unknown  to  all  but  God.”  Let  me  rather  die  as 
a  Socrates  than  as  an  Immanuel  Kant,  a  man  in  our  own  times, 
almost,  and  who  in  the  hour  of  death  did  not  know  whither  he 
was  going. 

To  the  northwest  of  Areopagus  lies  the  temple  of  Theseion, 
which  was  built  later  than  the  Parthenon  and  dedicated  to  the 
honor  of  Hephaistos  and  Athena.  This  temple  has  served  as  a 
heathen  temple,  as  a  Christian  church,  and  as  a  Mohammedan 
Mosque.  Later  it  has  also  served  as  a  museum.  During  the 
Greek  war  of  rebellion  it  served  as  a  hospital.  It  is  very  well 
preserved.  I  went  round  about  this  structure  several  times, 
but  could  not  get  into  it  as  I  knew  not  where  to  secure  a  key. 

To  the  north  of  the  Acropolis  is  the  old  city.  Archeological 
societies  have  carried  on  great  excavations  here,  and  as  a  con¬ 
sequence  of  these  excavations,  you  can  now  walk  on  the  same 
streets  that  Saint  Paul  used  to  walk  on.  Here  are  the  open 
streets,  buildings,  pillars,  fountains,  statues  and  relics  of  all 
kinds,  too  numerous  to  mention.  In  the  old  town  the  streets 
are  very  crooked  and  the  houses  are  very  ugly  and  low.  Here 
is  the  agora,  where  the  Apostle  Paul  was  walking  along,  when 
the  Grecian  philosophers  took  hold  of  him  and  wished  to  hear 
something  new.  But  let  us  now  leave  the  old  city  and  go  to 
the  new.  The  two  are  joined  together  and  you  cannot  see  any 
dividing  line. 

One  of  the  most  prominent  buildings  in  Athens  is  the 
University.  Before  this  building  stand  two  statues.  The  one 
to  the  left  represents  the  poet  Rhigas,  who  was  murdered  by 
the  Turks  in  1897,  and  the  other,  on  the  opposite  side,  repre¬ 
sents  the  Greek  patriarch  in  Constantinople,  Georgios,  who 
was  murdered  at  Easter,  1821,  by  a  Turkish  mob,  and  later 
hanged  on  the  church  door.  The  university  building  is  very 
beautiful.  It  was  built  by  the  Danish  architect  Hansen.  In 


[110] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


1837,  this  institution  threw  open  its  doors  to  the  students  of 
Hellas  and  other  countries.  It  follows  the  same  plan  as  the 
universities  of  Europe.  There  are  now  about  2,300  students 
attending  this  institution  of  learning,  and  the  attendance  is  on 
the  increase.  Near  by  this  university  building  is  the  Academy 
of  Sciences,  the  most  substantial  building  in  the  city  of  Athens. 
From  here  we  go  to  the  National  Museum.  Greece  has  done 
wonders  during  the  short  time  she  has  been  free  from  the  tyran¬ 
nical  yoke  of  Turkey.  The  Museum  proves  what  Greece  has 
done. 

It  was  a  terrific  struggle,  when  the  Greeks  fought  them¬ 
selves  free  from  the  Turkish  scepter.  We  rejoice  to  know  that 
this  country  is  developing  more  and  more.  It  has,  no  doubt, 
a  great  future. 

September  1st  I  got  up  early  in  the  morning  to  prepare  for 
a  journey  to  Corinth.  I  went  to  the  Peloponnesian  railroad 
station,  which  is  located  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  city, 
on  the  Attic  plain.  I  bought  a  second  class  ticket,  and  got  into 
the  car,  which  was  well  filled.  The  railroad  passes  along  the 
coast,  quite  near  Aegina  bay.  Before  we  came  to  Kalamaki, 
we  had  a  very  beautiful  sight  over  the  bay.  Yonder  on  the 
other  side  was  Cenchrea,  located  on  the  Saronic  gulf.  We 
could  see  the  place  quite  well.  There  are  only  ruins  now.  In 
this  town  the  deaconess  Phebe  lived.  When  Paul,  during  his 
stay  at  Corinth  on  his  third  missionary  journey,  wrote  his  let¬ 
ter  to  the  Romans,  this  lady  took  the  letter  to  the  church  at 
Rome.  He  says,  “I  commend  unto  you  Phebe,  our  sister,  who 
is  a  servant  of  the  church,  which  is  at  Cenchrea,  that  ye  receive 
her  in  the  Lord”  (Rom.  16:1). 

Paul  says  of  her  that  she  has  been  “a  succorer  of  many 
and  of  myself  also”  (Rom.  16:2).  Paul  entrusted  this  dea- 

[111] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


coness  with  a  great  responsiblity,  when  he  sent  her  to  Rome 
with  this,  the  greatest  epistle  of  the  Bible. 

Ere  long  our  train  passes  over  the  canal,  which  has  been 
dug  between  the  Corinthian  bay  and  the  bay  of  Aegina.  At  a 
great  distance,  before  we  come  to  New  Corinth,  we  see  the 
Acropolis  of  Corinth  or  Acrocorinth,  a  high  hill,  something 
like  the  Acropolis  at  Athens.  Here  we  find  again,  how  the 
ancient  people,  to  protect  themselves,  built  their  fortresses  on 
high  hills  and  later  on  extended  the  city  on  the  plain  beneath. 

At  10:30  A.  M.  I  arrived  at  New  Corinth  and  ate  my  break¬ 
fast  in  a  restaurant.  I  then  secured  a  Greek  to  take  me  to  Old 
Corinth.  He  had  a  cart  with  large  wheels  and  he  drove  like 
Jehu.  Wthin  forty-five  minutes  we  were  at  Old  Corinth.  Ex¬ 
cavations  have  been  carried  on  here  by  Americans  to  such  an 
extent,  that  you  can  now  walk  here  as  in  Athens  on  the  old 
streets,  on  the  very  stones  that  Paul  used  to  travel  on.  You  can 
actually  see  how  the  town  looked  in  the  time  of  our  Saviour.  In 
the  excavated  section  there  are  parts  of  buildings,  waterworks, 
and  broken  pillars.  Here  were  the  water  reservoirs  of  the  old 
city  and  the  fountain  Glyke.  The  water,  which  was  running 
into  it  from  a  spring  further  up,  was  very  warm  and  did  not 
quench  my  thirst.  It  was  a  hot  day.  Having  seen  what  there 
is  to  be  seen,  I  sat  down  on  an  old  ruin  and  thought  of  the 
vanity  of  all  things.  There  is  one  thing  that  will  remain  and 
that  is  the  word  of  the  living  God. 

Paul,  the  great  missionary  of  the  Gentiles,  came  to  this 
city  for  the  first  time  in  the  year  52  A.  D.  Here  he  founded  a 
church ;  and  strange  it  was  that  he  could  do  so  here  in  this 
licentious  and  immoral  city,  while  this  was  an  impossibility  in 
the  polished  and  educated  Athens.  But  this  was  in  accord 
with  the  dictum  of  the  Master,  when  he  said,  “Publicans  and 
harlots  go  into  the  kingdom  of  God  before  you”  (Matt. 

[112] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


21:31).  It  is  very  difficult  to  make  the  wise  in  this  world  fol¬ 
lowers  of  the  lowly  Nazarene,  because  His  teaching  is  foolish¬ 
ness  to  the  wise. 

Here  in  Corinth  he  met  the  Jew  Aquilla  and  his  wife 
Priscilla.  They  were  tentmakers  by  trade  and  as  Paul  had  the 
same  occupation,  he  joined  them  for  some  time.  In  the  syna¬ 
gogue  he  spoke  to  the  J ews  and  on  the  streets  to  the 

Gentiles.  But  the  Jews  took  offence  at  his  teachings, 

and  could  not  hear  the  story  of  the  cross.  And  the 
heathens  did  not  take  to  it  much  more  kindly.  Even 

Seneca  said  that  it  was  not  proper  to  speak  of  the 

cross  in  educated  society.  But  when  the  Jews  did  not  wish 
to  receive  him,  he  went  to  the  Gentiles  and  many  of  them  did 
receive  his  message.  Paul  preached  here  for  the  space  of  one 
year  and  six  months,  strengthening  the  church  of  Christ.  The 
church  of  Paul  at  Corinth  had  many  trials.  It  was  not  an  easy 
matter  for  the  people  to  separate  themselves  from  the  heathen 
practices.  The  church  was  endangered  by  inner  strife  and 
sins  and  was  also  in  danger  of  misusing  the  Lord’s  supper.  It 
was  a  wonder  that  the  church  did  survive. 

While  Paul  was  at  Ephesus,  on  his  third  missionary  jour¬ 
ney,  he  wrote  his  second  letter  to  the  church  at  Corinth.  It  is 
the  first  letter,  to  be  sure,  of  those  that  are  extant,  but  one  is 
lost,  according  to  1  Cor.  5  :9.  When  he  arrived  in  Macedonia, 
he  wrote  his  third  letter  to  this  church.  In  this  letter  he  gives 
them  instructions  as  to  how  they  should  behave  as  members  of 
the  church  of  Christ. 

Here  on  the  ruin  of  the  old  city  lies  a  dingy  little  village 
and  this  is  all  that  is  left  above  ground  of  Old  Corinth.  There 
are  about  200  inhabitants  in  this  village  and  they  live  in  small 
huts  where  poverty  stares  you  in  the  face  on  all  sides.  My 
driver  told  me  that  there  were  six  churches  in  this  village. 


[113] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


I  saw  these  church-buildings  and  they  were  small  and  miser¬ 
able  looking,  to  be  sure.  Two  of  them  had  no  window  and 
looked  as  though  they  might  tumble  over  any  time.  My  driver 
gave  me  the  names  of  these  churches  or  congregations.  They 
are:  St.  Paul,  St.  Johns,  St.  Paraskevos,  St.  Annas,  St.  Argy- 
rios  and  St.  Donasios.  There  will  be  only  a  few  members  for 
jpach  of  these  churches  in  such  a  little  town.  A  cross  on  the 
roof  signified  that  they  were  churches.  To  me  it  was  a  beauti¬ 
ful  thought  that  there  are  still  Christian  churches  in  this  place, 
where  the  gospel  of  Christ  was  preached  in  the  early  centuries. 

Being  very  tired  because  of  my  wanderings  in  these  ruins, 
we  started  on  our  way  back  to  the  New  Corinth.  Then  we 
passed  by  an  amphitheatre,  which  is  to  the  right  of  the  road, 
and  a  building,  called  the  Bathhouse  of  Aphrodite,  and  many 
other  buildings  and  ruins.  The  view  from  Acrocorinth  is  very 
grand.  To  the  north  is  the  gulf  of  Corinth,  and  on  the  other 
side  is  the  Parnassos  Mountain  and  others,  which  look  very 
blue  in  the  distance. 

It  would,  indeed,  be  a  very  interesting  study  to  find  out 
the  moral  condition  of  this  city  at  the  time  when  the  man  from 
Tarsus  came  in  through  its  gates.  It  was  a  saying  in  the  an¬ 
cient  world  that  the  Corinthians  lived  a  very  licentious  life  and 
corintizein  came  to  signify  a  life  in  sin  and  degradation.  Here 
was  the  seat  of  Venus’  worship,  which  was  attended  with  a 
licentiousness  and  debauchery  that  could  not  very  will  be  sur¬ 
passed. 

As  I  was  returning  from  New  Corinth  I  saw  a  number  of 
vineyards  containing  beautiful  grapes.  I  bought  some  for  10 
lepta  and  got  a  great  quantity,  and  such  grapes  I  had  never 
seen  before.  I  assure  you  they  did  taste  well.  Very  soon  I 
came  back  to  the  New  Corinth.  Here  I  paid  my  driver,  giving 
him  also  some  bakschisch,  for  which  he  was  well  pleased.  I 


[114] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


determined  to  return  to  Athens  that  very  evening ;  and  so  I  did. 
New  Corinth  is  a  town  of  about  5,500  inhabitants  and  has  a 
very  desirable  location  at  the  end  of  the  bay  of  Corinth.  While 
the  train  was  speeding  back  to  Athens,  I  looked  back  and 
found  that  the  Acrocorinth  was  visible,  when  the  island  of 
Salamis  came  in  sight  in  yonder  bay. 

On  my  return  I  bought  a  ticket  for  Smyrna  and  then  I 
went  to  see  the  Turkish  consul.  By  landing  at  Athens  I  had 
gone  outside  the  Turkish  boundaries,  and  as  I  was  about  to  re¬ 
turn  to  Turkish  territory,  I  had  to  have  my  passport  signed 
by  him.  If  I  did  not  do  that,  I  might  get  into  trouble  in 
Smyrna.  It  cost  me  five  drachmas  or  a  dollar. 

In  the  afternoon  I  had  plenty  of  time  to  wander  about  and 
see  the  town  and  so  I  did.  Piraeus  is  located  partly  on  a  pen¬ 
insula  and  partly  on  the  mainland.  It  has  had  remarkable 
growth.  It  looks  as  though  it  has  a  promising  future.  At 
4 :30  P.  M.  I  secured  a  small  row  boat,  and  had  a  man  take  me 
out  to  the  steamer  in  the  bay.  The  name  of  the  steamer  was 
“ Bayern.”  With  this  boat  I  went  to  Smyrna  in  Asia  Minor. 
The  boat  did  not  depart  before  late  in  the  evening,  but  I  went 
on  board  and  on  the  deck  I  had  a  splendid  view  of  the  vicinity. 

The  Greeks  had  given  me  a  very  good  impression,  and  I 
do  not  blame  Lord  Byron  of  England  for  helping  them  to  se¬ 
cure  their  liberty  from  the  Turkish  servitude,  even  if  he  had 
to  pay  for  it  very  dearly.  During  my  travels  in  Greece  I  did 
not  see  a  single  drunken  man.  But  they  seemed  to  have  the 
same  trait  that  their  forefathers  had  in  the  time  of  Paul : — they 
wished  to  hear  something  new,  and  every  evening  they  came 
together  in  great  crowds  in  the  parks,  to  drink  coffee,  read 
papers  and  discuss  the  questions  of  the  day.  Thus  they  kept 
on  till  very  late  in  the  night.  The  Greeks  are  very  industrious 
and  courageous,  and  if  they  are  permitted  to  develop  along 


[115] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


various  lines,  they  will,  no  doubt,  have  a  bright  future.  And 
they  are  worthy  of  it,  to  be  sure. 

While  I  was  sitting  there  on  the  deck,  two  passenger  steam¬ 
ers  came  into  the  bay  and  at  once  there  was  life  and  activity.  The 
small  boats  swarm  around  like  flies  and  wish  to  secure  pas¬ 
sengers  for  their  various  hotels.  The  sun  is  sinking  on  the 
other  side  of  the  island  of  Salamis,  a  balmy  breeze  is  blowing 
over  the  waters  and  the  land.  Very  attractive,  newly  built 
houses  are  grouped  on  the  shore,  and  the  climate  reminds  me 
that  I  am  in  a  southern  country.  Late  in  the  evening  our 
“Bayern”  moves  out  of  the  bay  and  steams  out  on  the  Aegean 
Sea.  I  see  the  last  glimmerings  of  the  lights  at  Athens  and 
Piraeus.  I  am  on  the  way  to  the  Orient  and  every  hour  brings 
me  closer  to  the  goal  of  my  journey  —  the  Land  of  Promise. 

It  was  very  warm  and  I  slept  well  on  the  deck  under  the 
clear  sky.  The  third  of  September  as  I  awoke  at  half  past  five  in 
the  morning  I  saw  how  the  sun  rolled  its  red  ball  out  of  the 
sea.  To  the  left  we  had  then  the  little  island  Psara, 
and  to  the  right  the  island  of  Kios.  Further  on  I  see  a 
blue  strip  of  land.  It  is  the  mainland  of  Asia  Minor.  Our  boat 
turns  and  proceeds  in  a  more  easterly  direction.  To  the  left 
we  saw  Lesbos  and  Mitylene.  This  island  is  rocky  and  reminds 
us  very  much  of  Greece.  There  are  no  trees,  only  mountains 
and  deep  valleys.  Here  among  these  islands  the  apostle  Paul 
sailed  on,  as  he  was  busy  trying  to  bring  the  great  message  to 
the  people  in  these  regions. 

As  we  sail  along  these  waters  the  ocean  is  very  still  and  a 
light  east  wind  greets  us  from  the  city  of  Smyrna  in  yonder 
bay.  The  day  is  very  clear  and  nothing  more  can  be  desired  in 
that  way.  Our  boat  is  heading  straight  into  the  bay  of  Smyrna. 
The  greater  part  of  the  city  lies  very  low,  by  the  bay,  and  we 
can  see  very  little  of  it.  At  half  past  ten  o’clock  our  “Bayern” 


[116] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


is  anchoring  in  the  bay  outside  the  city.  Before  the  boat  has 
stopped,  representatives  from  various  hotels  come  aboard  and 
try  all  they  can  to  secure  passengers  for  their  respective  hotels, 
and  you  should  have  heard  the  noise  and  the  turmoil  they  made. 
These  runners  fought  valiantly  to  get  hold  of  our  baggage.  We 
came  through  the  gate  and  were  on  the  wharf  at  Smyrna.  I  am 
again  under  the  scepter  of  the  Sultan. 


[117] 


Chapter  VII 

IN  SMYRNA  AND  EPHESUS 

SMYRNA  is  one  of  the  largest  cities  of  Asia  Minor.  My  first 
duty  was  to  find  a  hotel.  Even  here  a  Jew  came  and  of¬ 
fered  his  services,  so  that  I  might  get  a  good  hotel.  He  took 
me  to  a  nearby  hotel  and  I  registered  with  a  view  of  staying 
there  while  I  was  in  that  city,  but  the  place  did  not  suit  me. 

In  the  afternoon  I  found  my  way  to  the  American  Consul. 
He  lived  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  railroad  station.  When  I 
saw  the  American  Eagle  over  the  residence  of  the  Consul,  I 
felt  as  though  I  had  received  a  greeting  from  my  home.  The 
name  of  the  Consul  is  Ernest  L.  Harris,  and  he  is  a  gentleman 
every  inch.  He  offered  to  help  me  in  every  way  he  could  and 
whenever  I  called  upon  him  to  do  so.  I  told  him  of  my  plans 
to  see  Ephesus,  and  he  gave  me  some  helpful  points.  When  I 
inquired  whether  there  would  be  any  danger  to  go  to  Ephesus 
and  see  the  ruins,  he  said  that  under  the  present  circumstances 
there  would  be  no  danger  whatever.  But  he  advised  me  to 
secure  from  the  authorities  a  tesquere,  i.  e.,  an  inland  pass 
which  travelers  must  secure,  when  they  travel  in  the  country. 
The  pass  which  I  secured  from  the  Secretary  of  the  State  at 
Washington,  would  only  help  me  to  land  at  the  port  towns  in 
the  Turkish  dominion. 

Now,  as  to  the  city  of  Sn^rna.  It  is  located  on  the  bay  of 
Smyrna.  There  are  200,000  inhabitants  in  this  metropolis  of 
Asia  Minor,  and  most  of  them  are  Greeks  and  speak  the  Greek 

language,  but  many  other  languages  are  spoken  here  in  Smyrna. 

\ 

[118] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


The  city  is  divided  as  follows :  The  Turkish,  J ewish,  Greek  and 
the  Frankish,  in  the  latter  of  which  the  following  nationalities 
are  found :  French,  German,  English,  and  American. 

For  several  reasons  my  hotel  did  not  satisfy  me.  My  room 
was  located  right  next  to  the  street  and  because  of  the  noise 
I  could  not  sleep.  The  Turks  are  more  noisy  than  any  other 
people  that  I  know  of.  I  awoke  early  in  the  morning  and 
moved  to  hotel  Leonidas  and  then  I  went  to  Ephesus.  The 
railroad  coaches  were  small  and  dirty  beyond  description,  and 
it  was  no  pleasure  to  sit  among  the  Turks  on  such  a  hot  day 
and  in  the  dirty  car.  The  railroad  passes  along  the  western 
part  of  Asia  Minor  and  then  goes  out  east  through  Syria.  The 
road  was  built  by  Englishmen.  Along  the  road  we  see  beauti¬ 
ful  orchards  and  plantations.  Then  we  pass  over  an  old 
caravan  bridge  and  through  a  valley  called  Meles.  After  that 
we  go  by  a  little  town,  Pudja,  and  from  here  the  grade  is  a  little 
steep  and  the  train  goes  very  slowly.  Then  we  come  to  a 
plateau,  and  to  the  east  and  west  of  us  there  are  quite  high 
mountains.  This  plain  was,  without  doubt,  a  sea  bottom  once 
upon  a  time.  The  soil  is  very  rich  and  yields  good  crops.  A 
European  sat  with  me  in  the  car  —  he  was  in  the  service  of  the 
government  —  and  as  he  looked  out  over  the  plain  he  said,  “It 
is  too  bad  that  such  excellent  soil  should  belong  to  such  a  good- 
for-nothing  people.”  Think  of  the  crops  that  could  be  gathered 
in  here,  if  the  soil  were  properly  tilled ! 

At  the  stations  we  see  half-naked  children  running  about 
and  selling  water  to  the  passengers  for  a  metelik.  But  if  they 
get  more,  so  much  the  better.  Having  passed  over  the  plateau, 
we  come  into  a  narrow  valley  where  high  mountains  are  lined 
up  on  both  sides.  As  we  came  through  this  narrow  pass,  we 
entered  into  a  more  open  space  with  a  better  view  to  the  right. 
The  locomotive  blew  the  whistle  and  as  we  got  off  the  train, 


[119] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


we  read  Ajasuluk  on  the  station’s  wall.  Here  is  the  old  Ephe¬ 
sus.  The  Turks  have  made  up  this  word  from  Hagios  and 
Theologos  or  Holy  Theologue.  They  call  Ephesus  Theologos 
from  the  Apostle  John,  who  lived  a  number  of  years  here  to¬ 
wards  the  end  of  his  life.  There  are  about  300  inhabitants  in 
the  village  and  it  is  located  to  the  east  of  the  plain  on  which 
ancient  Ephesus  was  built.  This  plain  extends  to  the  west, 
where  the  Aegean  sea  is  seen.  X  went  to  the  hotel.  The  prop¬ 
rietor  was  a  Greek,  but  he  spoke  German,  English,  French 
and  his  own  language  with  ease.  He  was  a  very  pleasant  man. 

Having  rested  at  the  hotel,  I  walked  out  to  the  ruins  on 
the  caravan  road.  Along  this  road  the  camels  were  feeding  and 
shepherds  were  tending  their  flocks.  At  the  station  you  see 
old  pillars  which  belong  to  an  old  aqueduct,  which  is  not  in 
use  now.  This  duct  brought  water  from  the  mountains  in  the 
east.  To  the  northwest  of  Ajasaluk  is  a  bridge.  You  see  many 
ruins  on  it  and  also  along  the  caravan  road.  The  ruins  on  the 
hill  to  the  northwest  of  the  station  are  supposed  to  belong  to 
the  church  of  the  “ angel  at  Ephesus”  to  whom  the  risen  Lord 
wrote  this  remarkable  letter,  which  we  find  in  the  book  of 
Revelation.  It  is  a  question,  though,  whether  these  church 
ruins  date  from  that  time.  One  thing  is  sure  and  that  is  that 
the  church  was  located  somewhere  in  this  vicinity.  In  the 
neighborhood  of  the  ruin  stands  a  church  and  on  two  poles 
they  have  put  up  a  church  bell.  On  the  roof  of  the  little  church 
is  a  cross.  It  was  certainly  very  pleasant  to  see  the  cross  here 
in  ancient  Ephesus  and  a  church,  even  if  it  is  not  so  very  large. 

As  you  go  out  to  the  ruins,  you  have  to  the  right  of  the 
road  the  ruins  of  the  Diana  temple.  They  are  about  2260  feet 
from  the  old  city  gate.  There  is  an  old  legend  that  the  wooden 
statue  of  Diana  fell  from  heaven  into  a  thicket.  Here  some 
men  found  it  and  worshipped  it.  On  this  spot  a  temple 

[120] 


was 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


built,  which  in  the  course  of  time  was  superseded  by  others 
until  the  Diana  temple  was  built.  It  was  finished  about  370 
before  Christ.  There  was  a  man  by  the  name  Hierostratus, 
who  wished  to  do  something  to  make  his  name  immortal,  and 
for  this  reason  he  decided  to  burn  the  temple,  which  he  did, 
July  31,  356  B.  C.,  the  very  night  when  Alexander  the  Great 
was  born.  It  was  rebuilt  again  about  300  B.  C.  and  must  have 
been  very  beautiful,  because  it  is  recorded  as  one  of  the  seven 
wonders  of  the  world.  In  the  course  of  time  it  fell,  and  the 
ruins  were  slowly  buried  under  the  debris  of  the  ages.  Mr.  J. 
T.  Wood,  representing  the  British  Museum,  began  excavations 
here  in  1863,  and  in  1869,  December  29th,  he  found  20  feet  be¬ 
low  the  surface  of  the  swamp,  the  place  where  the  temple  had 
stood.  There  are  now  extant  some  of  the  broken  pieces  of  the 
once  beautiful  sanctuary.  Some  of  the  old  pillars  were  used 
in  the  old  St.  Sophia  church  at  Constantinople  and  the  old 
temple  has  been  plundered  in  many  ways,  until  there  are  now 
only  a  few  broken  pieces  of  some  size  in  the  open  place  that 
has  been  excavated. 

But  we  must  hasten  onward  to  the  ruins,  of  which  some 
are  excavated  and  some  have  been  left  under  the  ground. 
Having  walked  quite  a  distance  along  the  elevated  road,  lead¬ 
ing  out  to  the  ruins,  I  turned  to  the  left  and  was  soon  among 
the  open  ruins.  They  are  altogether  too  great  to  describe. 
Here  is  first  of  all  the  old  theatre.  Here  it  was  that  the  Apostle 
fought  with  the  wild  beast.  It  is  a  very  large  theatre,  hewn 
out  of  Mount  Pion.  I  went  into  it  and  saw  the  seats  and  the 
platform  and  the  marble  walls  in  the  front.  The  rooms  in  the 
front,  where  the  performers  went  in  between  the  acts,  are  very 
well  preserved.  Here  on  these  seats,  (which  originally  were 
of  marble,  but  the  marble  slabs  in  most  of  the  seats  have  been 
taken  away)  thousands  and  thousands  have  sat,  listening  and 

[121] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


observing  the  wild  games,  which  have  been  played  here.  Not 
far  from  the  theatre  to  the  west  is  the  agora  or  market  place. 
It  is  quite  large  and  once  upon  a  time  it  must  have  been  very 
inviting  and  attractive.  The  streets  which  are  still  preserved 
quite  well  at  this  place,  would  indicate  this. 

The  gymnasium  is  just  a  little  distance  from  here.  It 
must  have  been  a  very  large  building.  In  the  northeastern  part 
of  the  ruins  is  the  stadium.  It  is  surprisingly  well  preserved 
and  it  seemed  to  me  that  it  could  be  put  into  shape  with  but 
very  little  expense.  The  walls  are  well  preserved  and  you  can 
see  clearly  the  space  where  the  competitors  were  running  for 
the  laurel  that  fadeth  away.  All  this  is  too  much  to  describe 
in  this  connection.  I  wished  to  see  this  panorama  from  a  higher 
point  and  so  I  went  up  to  the  top  of  the  hill  Pion.  I  had  seen 
the  ruins  quite  well,  and  noticed  a  lot  of  lizards  and  snakes  in 
these  ruins  and  observed  how  they  crept  in  their  holes  in  the 
walls,  when  I  came  near  them.  I  saw  a  lot  of  frogs,  too,  jump¬ 
ing  around  on  the  streets,  that  were  otherwise  void  and  deso¬ 
late.  Here  and  there  I  saw  some  Turks  tending  their  cattle  and 
flocks  around  the  ruins  a  little  further  away,  and  I  wondered 
whether  it  was  safe  to  be  so  near  them.  I  then  climbed 
up  on  the  hill  so  as  to  get  a  better  view  of  the  whole  and  to  be 
sure  I  got  a  very  good  view  on  Pion  to  the  southeast  of  the 
ruins.  Yonder  in  the  west  I  see  the  Aegean  sea,  glimmering 
over  the  woods  and  hills.  In  the  northern  part  of  the  plain 
I  see  the  river  Kaystros  winding  its  way  down  to  the  sea.  And 
right  before  me  to  the  northeast  and  north  and  northwest  is  the 
plain,  where  the  great  city  of  Ephesus  was  located.  What  shall 
I  say  of  this  valley,  so  fruitful  in  itself,  but  so  neglected  that 
it  serves  now  as  pasture  for  the  lazy  Turks  and  Arabs  in  the 
vicinity? 


[122] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


While  I  sat  alone  on  this  lonely  hill,  looking  over  this 
historic  vicinity,  so  rich  in  memories  from  bygone  days,  I 
thought  of  that  valiant  man,  St.  Paul,  who  in  the  year  57  A.  D. 
came  to  this  place  on  his  return  from  his  second  missionary 
journey  and  proclaimed  the  gospel  of  Christ  to  Jew  and  Gentile. 
In  the  Acts  18  :19  we  read,  that  when  they  (Paul,  Aquila  and 
Priscilla)  had  come  to  Ephesus,  he  left  them  there,  but  he  went 
in  the  synagogue  and  spoke  to  the  Jews.  Here  he  made  a  be¬ 
ginning  of  his  missionary  work,  which  he  carried  on  so  power- 
fully  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life. 

Paul  was  a  very  bold  man,  who  dared  to  attack  the  heathen 
stronghold,  the  seat  of  Diana  worship.  On  his  third  missionary 
journey,  having  passed  through  the  greater  part  of  Asia  Minor, 
he  stopped  here  for  the  space  of  three  years,  building  on  the 
foundation  which  he  had  recently  laid. 

Here  he  found  some  disciples,  who  were  baptized  with  the 
baptism  of  John  and  these  he  baptized  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  and  when  he  laid  his  hands  on  them  they  received  the 
Holy  Ghost,  spoke  with  tongues  and  prophesied  (Acts  19:1- 
17).  In  the  synagogue  he  testified  for  the  space  of  three  years 
with  great  boldness  and  afterwards  in  the  school  of  Tyrannus. 
Great  things  were  done  by  the  hands  of  St.  Paul,  but  it  was 
a  hard  fight  against  the  powers  of  heathenism. 

The  Greek  philosophy  had  struck  deep  roots  in  this  place 
also,  and  after  some  time  this  philosophy  turned  into  super¬ 
stition.  Now  the  gospel  came  and  was  the  power  that  could 
overcome  even  this  heathen  superstition ;  and  many  of  those 
who  had  used  curious  arts,  brought  their  books  together  and 
burnt  them  before  all  men ;  and  they  counted  the  price  of  them 
and  found  it  fifty  thousand  pieces  of  silver  (Acts  19:19). 

Now  as  I  pondered  on  these  events  here  in  this  city  and  the 
power  of  the  gospel  on  the  hearts  of  these  heathen  people,  I 

[123] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


thought  it  would  be  a  very  blessed  thing,  if  the  deluge  of  books 
that  now  destroy  so  many  young  hearts,  those  dime  novels  of 
the  low  type,  would  be  burnt  and  truly  a  cremation  day  would 
be  worth  while  to  get  rid  of  this  pest  among  us.  I  wonder  if 
our  parents  understand  the  danger  of  these  novels  to  the 
hearts  of  the  young  in  these  days. 

But  we  are  still  at  the  ruins  of  Ephesus  and  I  tried  to 
live  in  the  past  of  this  city ;  and  as  I  let  one  act  after  another 
of  the  past  go  before  my  mind,  I  wondered  what  the  future  of 
this  city  would  have  been,  had  the  inhabitants  abided  by  the 
word  of  God?  How  would  the  city  have  looked  now,  if  the 
citizens  had  abided  by  the  preserving  doctrine  of  the  word  of 
God?  It  did  not  help  the  Ephesians  at  all  that  they  cried, 
“ Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians.”  The  heathen  goddess 
could  not  help  them.  She  fell;  and  great  was  the  fall  of 
her  religion. 

Thinking  over  these  things  I  began  to  feel  very  lonesome 
on  this  hill  with  nothing  but  ruins  and  desolation  before  me 
on  the  plain.  I  opened  my  Bible  and  read  a  chapter  therein 
and  I  was  strengthened  and  encouraged,  and  went  down  from 
the  hills,  passing  by  ruins  of  all  kinds,  aqueducts,  dikes  and 
walls.  The  words  of  the  poet  came  very  powerfully  to  my 
mind, 

“Christ’s  glory  never  ceaseth, 

Its  glory  still  increaseth. 

0,  blessed  is  He  that  came, 

In  God  the  Father’s  name.” 

With  these  thoughts  in  my  mind  I  passed  by  the  ruins  of 
Diana,  its  fallen  pillars  and  rubbish  and  with  a  certain  cheer  I 
saw  the  little  church  on  the  distant  hill  to  the  northeast.  Here 
in  this  place  we  are  reminded  of  the  words  of  the  risen  Saviour 


[124] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


to  the  pastor  of  the  church  at  Ephesus.  There  are  a  good  many 
things  in  the  life  of  this  man  that  he  approves  of;  his  labors, 
his  patience,  his  forbearance  with  the  evil  and  his  ability  to  try 
them  which  say  they  are  apostles  and  are  not  and  has  found 
them  liars  (Rev.  2:2-3).  But  he  had  left  his  first  love  and 
fallen  away  from  Christ  in  his  heart.  He  should  remember 
from  whence  he  had  fallen  and  do  the  first  works  or  else  he 
would  come  quickly  and  remove  the  candlestick  from  its  place, 
unless  he  would  repent.  If  you  wish  to  have  an  exposition  or 
explanation  of  these  words,  dear  reader,  go  to  Ephesus,  walk 
around  its  ruins,  its  walls,  and  rubbish,  and  you  will  find  that 
the  words  of  the  Lord  have  been  literally  fulfilled. 

But  we  must  go  to  the  hotel.  There  I  had  a  splendid  din¬ 
ner  at  about  3  o’clock.  I  took  my  dinner  out  on  the  veranda, 
because  it  was  so  hot  inside,  and  from  here  I  had  a  very  good 
view  over  the  hill  to  the  northwest  from  the  station.  And  hav¬ 
ing  had  my  dinner,  I  hastened  to  the  station,  for  my  train  was 
arriving.  The  cars  were  all  filled,  and  the  hotel-keeper,  who 
went  with  me  to  the  station  to  bid  me  farewell,  asked  the  con¬ 
ductor  to  put  on  another  car,  which  he  did.  The  conductor, 
who  expected  to  get  some  bakschisch  from  me,  said  that  I 
could  be  alone  in  the  car  and  thus  have  all  the  comfort  possible. 
I  thanked  him  for  his  kindness  and  gave  him  bakschisch,  of 
course,  and  he  seemed  quite  satisfied. 

At  5  :30  I  was  back  again  in  Smyrna,  having  spent  a  most 
memorable  day.  In  Smyrna  I  took  my  supper  in  the  Sailors’ 
Home,  which  is  located  quite  near  the  wharf.  At  this  home 
the  sailors  may  enjoy  themselves  in  many  ways  and  here  thej^ 
receive  letters  and  newspapers  from  their  home.  In  the 
reading  room  you  find  papers  in  the  English  language  and 
they  are  quite  fresh  too. 


[125] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


September  5th  was  Sunday.  I  went  out  Sunday  morning 
to  see  how  the  people  of  Smyrna  were  spending  their  Sundays, 
and  at  the  regular  church  time  I  went  to  the  English  Episcopal 
church  in  the  French  quarter,  not  far  from  the  American 
Consulate.  The  pastor  was  preaching  on  the  text  for  the  day, 
which  treats  of  the  man  who  went  down  from  Jerusalem  to 
Jericho  and  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  robbers.  The  sermon 
was  good  and  I  enjoyed  it  very  much.  He  said  among  other 
things  that  this  road  is  just  as  dangerous  to  travel  at  present 
as  it  was  in  the  time  of  our  Saviour,  and  I  found  within  the 
next  month  that  the  man  spoke  the  truth. 

In  the  afternoon  I  went  out  with  the  hotel-keeper’s  brother- 
in-law.  His  name  was  Crevo.  We  went  up  to  the  grave  of 
Polycarp,  which  is  located  on  a  high  hill  in  the  southeastern 
section  of  the  town  or  city.  The  Turks  call  Polycarp  Jusuf 
ITadda,  and  now  we  are  on  the  way  to  the  grave  of  this  great 
man  of  God. 

We  went  through  the  Turkish  quarters  of  the  city  and  up 
the  hill.  The  streets  were  miserable  and  crooked.  It  was  a 
long  distance  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  but  at  last  we  were  there. 
There  is  a  little  building  over  the  grave  of  Polycarp  and  a 
cypress  tree  stands  close  by  the  building.  Here  we  had  a  most 
excellent  view  of  the  city  and  the  bay  with  its  surroundings. 

Now  we  are  at  the  grave  of  one  of  the  great  men  in  the 
early  church  and  we  shall  note  a  little  chapter  in  church  history 
from  that  time.  On  the  imperial  throne  at  Rome  at  that  time 
sat  a  philosopher  by  the  name  of  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus 
Philosophus  (160-180).  In  many  ways  he  was  a  good  ruler, 
but  in  regard  to  the  Christian  religion  we  must  say  that  he  in¬ 
stituted  one  of  the  bloodiest  persecutions  against  the  Nazarene 
and  his  followers.  He  commanded  that  the  Christians  should 


[  126  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


be  hunted  up  in  a  most  careful  and  inquisitorial  way  and  em¬ 
ployed  various  kinds  of  tortures  to  make  them  deny  Christ. 

And  so  the  persecutions  were  raging  with  relentless  fero¬ 
city.  The  heathens  had  murdered  many  Christians  and  at  last 
they  called  for  the  head  of  Polycarp.  For  some  time  he  had 
withdrawn  to  a  certain  place  in  the  country,  being  advised  by 
some  of  his  friends,  but  they  hunted  him  up  and  brought  him 
ito  the  city.  “The  will  of  the  Lord  be  done,”  he  said,  when  he 
went  out  to  meet  his  enemies.  He  gave  them  food  and  some¬ 
thing  to  drink,  and  asked  that  they  might  grant  him  an  hour 
for  quiet  meditation  and  prayer.  He  prayed  for  two  hours, 
and  those  sent  out  to  take  him  were  very  much  touched  by  his 
piety  and  devotion  to  God. 

When  the  proconsul  demanded  that  he  should  abjure 
Christ  and  he  would  become  a  free  man,  Polycarp  said,  “I 
have  served  him  for  six  and  eighty  years  and  he  has  done  me 
good  and  no  evil.  How  should  I  be  able  to  curse  him,  my  Lord 
and  my  Saviour?”  He  was  condemned  to  be  burnt.  The  Jews 
and  Gentiles  vied  in  bringing  wood  to  the  funeral  pyre,  and 
here  the  old  bishop  finished  his  eventful  life.  He  thanked  the 
Lord  that  he  had  considered  him  worthy  to  suffer  for  his 
name’s  sake.  This  execution  is  said  to  have  taken  place  just 
a  little  below  this  grave  of  the  martyr.  Having  observed  care¬ 
fully  the  surroundings,  we  went  a  little  further  on  to  the 
Acropolis.  Nearby  are  a  number  of  old  ruins  and  crumbled 
walls.  Here  we  did  not  stay  very  long  and  returned  through 
the  French  quarters  to  the  hotel. 

We  saw  the  difference  in  the  various  quarters  of  the  city 
that  we  passed  through.  Narrow  streets,  poverty  and  dirt, 
and  besides  this  an  unbearable  smell  —  this  is  what  you  see 
in  the  Turkish  quarter.  It  is  an  oriental  city  and  that  is 
enough  for  us  to  know.  In  the  evening  I  went  to  the  Sailors’ 


[127] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Home  again  to  attend  the  evening  service  and  the  prayer  meet¬ 
ing.  Having  begun  with  a  song,  I  read  the  15th  chapter  in 
St.  Luke  and  led  in  prayer,  whereupon  the  pastor  preached 
on  the  text  about  the  prodigal  son  and  then  we  had  a  prayer 
meeting.  It  was  a  good  and  edifying  meeting.  The  Christian 
church  is  doing  a  great  mission  in  this  city,  and  a  home  of  this 
nature,  where  the  sailors  from  the  various  countries  of  the 
world  are  finding  a  refuge,  is  indeed  a  great  comfort  and  guide 
to  them. 

And  now,  before  we  leave  this  historic  place,  let  us  re¬ 
mind  ourselves  that  in  this  city  one  of  the  seven  churches  was 
founded,  to  whose  leader  the  Master  sent  his  consoling  letter, 
found  in  the  book  of  Revelation.  In  the  tribulation,  which  this 
angel  and  his  church  passed  through,  he  was  comforted  by  the 
words  of  the  Master,  “Be  thou  faithful  unto  death  and  I  will 
give  thee  a  crown  of  life.” 

It  is  very  remarkable  that  the  churches  that  He  rebukes, 
with  the  exception  of  Pergamus,  have  been  altogether  swept 
from  the  map  of  Christendom,  while  the  three  that  He  gives  the 
promise  have  kept  on  during  the  course  of  time,  and  there  are 
Christian  churches  there  yet.  Ephesus,  Sardis  and  Laodicea 
are  now  in  ruins,  while  Smyrna  has  a  great  many  churches 
of  various  confessions.  Thyatira  has  now  more  than  300 
houses  that  Christians  occupy,  and  in  Philadelphia  services  are 
held  every  Sunday  in  five  churches.  Surely,  God’s  word  re- 
maineth  forever. 


[128] 


Chapter  VIII 


FROM  SMYRNA  TO  BEIRUT 


T  2  o’clock  P.  M.  I  secured  a  man  to  row  me  out  to  the 


r\  Russian  steamer,  Zariza,  which  was  anchored  in  the  bay. 
It  was  scheduled  to  depart  at  3  P.  M.,  but  did  not  go  before 
4 :15.  It  was  an  old  and  very  poor  steamer,  and  it  is  a  surprise 
to  me  that  the  Russian  government  would  allow  such  a  steamer 
to  sail  along  this  coast.  It  carries  freight  between  the  cities 
on  the  coast  and  takes  passengers  at  the  same  time.  A  great 
throng  was  on  this  boat  and  many  more  boarded  at  Smyrna. 
The  steamer  came  from  Odessa  in  the  Black  sea  and  there 
were  many  Jews  on  the  boat,  destined  to  go  to  Palestine  and 
particularly  to  Jerusalem.  The  passengers  were  not  very 
pleased  to  travel  on  such  a  vessel,  but  there  was  nothing  else 
to  do.  I  could  not  make  a  change  at  this  time,  inasmuch  as  I 
had  bought  a  ticket  and  gone  aboard.  When  the  boat  had  got¬ 
ten  on  all  the  freight,  it  lifted  anchor  and  steamed  out  into  the 
bay.  On  the  upper  deck  I  secured  a  good  place,  where  I  had 
an  excellent  view  of  the  whole  city. 

Now  in  regard  to  the  passengers  let  me  say,  that  I  have 
never  seen  such  a  mixed  crowd  on  a  steamer  before,  but  here  I 
could  see  them  at  near  range : — Jews,  Turks,  Arabs,  Armenians 
and  French,  and  I  might  say  “men  of  every  nation  under  the 
sun.”  During  the  five  days  that  I  sailed  on  the  Mediterranean 
and  Aegean  seas  I  had  a  chance  to  study  this  mixed  crowd  on 
the  lower  deck,  while  I  was  sitting  on  the  upper.  The  poor 


[129] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


people  are  ragged,  almost  half  naked  and  it  was  a  pitiable 
sight  to  see  them. 

Here  on  the  boat  I  became  acquainted  with  an  Armenian 
missionary  His  name  was  Garabed  H.  Keshishian  from  Hadjin 
in  Asia  Minor.  I  also  met  another  missionary,  who  was  on 
his  way  to  Messina.  Here  on  the  boat  I  met  a  man  by  the 
name  of  Paul  Fisher,  from  Budapest,  Hungary.  This  young 
man  spoke  French  and  German  and  we  got  along  very  well 
together.  He  was  on  his  way  to  Jerusalem.  Mr.  Fisher  was 
by  profession  a  civil  engineer  and  as  to  his  religion  a  Catholic. 

When  the  boat  had  gotten  out  of  the  bay,  it  turned  in  a 
northwesterly  direction  and  then  due  west,  between  the  island 
of  Kios  and  the  mainland.  At  11  o’clock  in  the  evening  our 
boat  anchored  at  Kios  to  take  in  freight  and  passengers.  We 
did  not  stay  here  long. 

During  the  night  our  boat  rolled  on  the  waves  quite  a  good 
deal  and  some  of  the  passengers  became  seasick.  At  sunrise, 
September  7th,  we  passed  between  the  islands  of  Samos  and 
Furni.  These  islands  are  so  very  much  like  the  Grecian  islands, 
that  I  could  not  see  any  difference  between  them.  It  was 
quite  difficult  to  find  out  just  where  we  were  in  the  Aagean  sea. 
I  waited  for  some  time,  conversing  with  my  Armenian  friends 
as  to  where  the  island  of  Patmos  was  located,  but  they  were 
evidently  less  acquainted  with  the  topography  of  the  Aegean 
sea  than  I  was.  I  was  confused,  because  I  did  not  know  that 
our  boat  went  to  the  east  of  the  Sporades.  I  began  to  fear  that 
we  had  passed  by  the  island  of  Patmos,  and  went  to  the  captain 
and  asked  him  where  Patmos  was  to  be  found.  He  pointed  to 
the  northwest  and  said  that  we  had  just  passed  it;  and  lo,  there 
it  was  indeed.  We  had  just  passed  it  by  and  it  was  to  the 
right  of  the  boat.  It  is  a  small  island,  comparatively,  only  20 
miles  around  and  looks  very  naked  and  desolate.  It  is  about 

[130] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


20  miles  from  Samos  due  south,  and  about  70  miles  southwest 
from  Ephesus.  It  was  to  this  island  that  the  apostle  John  was 
banished  in  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Domitian,  or  according’ 
to  other  authorities  during  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Nero. 

A  narrow  neck  of  land  divided  the  island  into  two  parts. 
On  a  hill  in  the  southern  end  of  island  is  a  cloister,  named  after 
the  apostle  John,  and  near  by  is  a  grotto,  in  which  the  seer  of 
this  island  is  supposed  to  have  had  his  visions  and  received 
his  revelations,  which  we  have  recorded  in  the  Book  of 
Revelation. 

It  was  in  accordance  with  the  customs  of  the  time  to  banish 
to  desolate  places  such  persons  as  the  rulers  seemed  dangerous 
to  the  safety  of  the  public  and  therefore  John  was  sent  to  this 
lonely  place.  But  even  here  the  Lord  was  with  him,  and  showed 
him  the  New  Jerusalem,  from  which  no  one  who  enters  there 
will  be  banished,  and  where  no  eye  shall  shed  a  tear.  The 
present  name  of  the  island  is  Palmosa  for  the  reason  that  there 
were  many  palms  on  the  island  in  times  past. 

During  the  day  we  passed  by  the  islands  of  Leros,  Kalyn- 
nos,  and  Kos,  which  were  to  the  right  of  our  vessel.  In  the 
afternoon  at  4  o’clock  we  anchored  outside  Rhodes  at  its  north¬ 
eastern  end.  Before  long  we  received  visitors  on  the  boat 
from  the  land.  They  came  to  sell  fruits  of  various  kinds.  1 
did  not  wish  to  buy  of  their  fruit,  because  I  was  afraid  that  it 
might  be  of  the  same  kind  that  I  had  bought  in  Smyrna.  On 
the  top  the  figs  were  clean  and  good  looking,  but  further  down 
they  were  small  and  dirty  beyond  description,  and  I  could  not 
use  them  at  all.  We  hear  some  speak  of  the  American  “hum¬ 
bug;”  why  not  speak  of  the  Turkish  “humbug,”  because  there 
is  greater  reason  to  speak  of  the  latter  than  of  the  former. 

The  city  of  Rhodes  has  a  beautiful  location,  but  I  do  not 
know  whether  there  is  any  beauty  within  the  city,  inasmuch 


[131] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


as  I  did  not  land.  But  there  are  many  Turks  there,  and  that 
is  sufficient  for  us  to  know.  Wherever  the  Turks  are,  there  is 
dirt  and  rags. 

On  this  island  the  Colossus  was  erected.  It  stood  here  for 
56  years  and  fell  in  an  earthquake  224  B.  C.  There  the  frag¬ 
ments  of  this  monster  were  lying  till  656  A.  D.,  when  the  island 
of  Rhodes  was  captured  by  the  Mohammedans.  They  sold 
parts  of  the  statue  to  merchants  and  it  took  900  camels  to  carry 
them  away.  This  statue  was  considered  one  of  the  seven  won¬ 
ders  of  the  world  and  was  made  by  Chares.  He  labored  for 
12  long  years  and  in  280  B.  C.  his  task  was  completed.  The 
height  is  generally  given  as  105  feet. 

At  5 :30  in  the  afternoon  we  lifted  anchor  and  steamed 
away  in  a  northeasterly  direction.  We  saw  the  land  to  our 
left.  It  was  the  mainland  of  Asia  minor.  During  the  evening 
and  the  night  we  saw  land  continually  to  the  left.  It  was  a 
mountainous  country  and  mostly  barren  and  desolate.  The 
land  which  we  saw  was  the  province  of  ancient  Lycia.  On  the 
shore  of  this  province  lies  the  city  of  Myra.  Many  times  Saint 
Paul  had  sailed  along  this  coast.  The  last  time  was  in  the  year 
61  A.  D.,  when  he  as  a  prisoner  was  sent  to  Rome.  In  Acts 
27:5  we  read,  that  “they  came  to  Myra  in  Lycia.”  Here  the 
centurion  found  a  ship  from  Alexandria  that  was  going  to 
Italy,  and  Paul  and  the  other  prisoners  were  brought  aboard. 

As  we  pass  the  island  of  Cos  to  the  right,  we  have  to  the 
left  of  us  in  the  bay  a  little  island  and  on  the  mainland  of  an¬ 
cient  Caria  the  town  of  Budrum.  This  is  the  old  Halicarnassos. 
Here,  we  are  told  in  history,  stood  one  of  the  seven  wonders  of 
the  ancient  world,  the  tomb  of  Mausolus,  the  king  of  Caria. 
This  king  was  married  to  one  of  his  sisters,  Artemisia,  and  when 
he  died  in  353  B.  C.,  she  built  a  tomb  in  his  honor.  This  tomb 
was  buried  long  ago  under  the  debris.  Excavators  have  picked 

[132] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


up  pieces  here  and  tried  to  construct  a  tomb  so  as  to  give  us 
an  idea  how  it  looked. 

In  the  morning  at  7  :30,  we  did  not  see  any  land.  Way  in 
the  bay  to  the  left  is  the  city  of  Perge  in  Pamphylia.  At  this 
landing  place  the  apostles  Paul,  Barnabas  and  Mark  landed  in 
the  year  45  A.  D.  on  their  first  missionary  journey.  The  young 
inexperienced  John  or  Mark  feared  to  undertake  the  journey 
up  the  lonely  mountains,  where  robbers  were  lurking  in  the 
mountain  passes.  He  knew  that  there  was  danger  ahead  of 
him,  and  returned  to  Jerusalem,  but  nothing  could  deter  Paul 
from  going  on  this  journey.  Faith  in  the  Master  and  in  his 
cause  made  him  bold  and  he  together  with  Barnabas  continued. 

At  11  A.  M.  we  again  see  land  to  the  left  of  the  steamer. 
It  is  the  high  mountaintops  of  Cilicia.  It  is  the  home  country 
of  Paul  that  we  see  in  the  distance  and  the  high  ridges  yonder 
to  the  left  are  the  Taurus  mountains.  It  is  a  very  warm  day. 
The  heat  is  almost  unbearable.  The  boats  in  these  waters 
carry  with  them  a  very  large  canvas  and  this  is  stretched 
over  our  head  in  warm  days.  If  they  had  not  had  this  protec¬ 
tion,  I  do  not  know  how  we  could  have  stood  it.  In  the  after¬ 
noon  the  steamer  is  moving  along  the  coast  and  the  country 
looks  very  much  the  same  as  that  which  we  have  seen  during 
the  day.  At  3  o’clock  we  see  the  island  of  Cyprus  to  the  right. 

If  the  weather  had  been  clear,  we  could  have  seen  the 
mountain  tops  very  well.  Yonder  on  that  island  Paul  and 
Barnabas  together  with  Mark  had  landed  as  they  came  from 
Seleucia  on  the  Syrian  coast  and  they  labored  at  Salamis 
and  Paphos,  telling  the  remarkable  story.  The  Acts  tell  us 
what  was  done  on  that  island  by  these  messengers  of  the 
Nazarene. 

Our  steamer  turns  in  northeasterly  direction  and  at  10  :30 
A.  M.  we  cast  anchor  outside  of  Mersina.  Here  our  boat 


[133] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


stayed  till  the  following  evening.  The  next  morning,  Septem¬ 
ber  9th,  I  went  ashore  intending  to  go  to  Tarsns.  Two  Armeni¬ 
ans  went  with  me — Keshishian  and  Kruozian.  At  the  landing- 
place  we  had  to  show  our  passports,  of  course.  They  kept  my 
passport  until  I  returned  from  Tarsus  and  went  on  the  boat. 
Here  one  of  the  missionaries  lost  one  of  his  umbrellas  and  other 
things.  The  miserable  Turkish  boys  stole  them.  To  be  sure,  they 
steal  whatever  they  can  get  hold  of.  They  were  searching  for 
the  lost  articles  and  a  policeman  was  called.  He  drove  away 
the  boys  as  though  they  had  been  a  pack  of  wolves,  but  they 
returned  just  as  fast  and  wished  to  have  an  opportunity  to 
steal  more.  I  left  my  baggage  on  the  boat,  so  that  I  had 
nothing  to  lose.  It  became  very  lively  here  and  I  had  not  seen 
such  a  tumult  before.  The  policeman  struck  the  boys  with  the 
whip  mercilessly,  but  to  no  avail.  They  came  back  the  next 
minute  and  looked  like  hungry  wolves. 

Now  Mersina  is  not  an  old  seaport.  It  was  founded  in 
the  middle  of  the  19th  century  by  Ibrahim  Pascha.  There  is 
nothing  of  interest  particularly  for  the  Tourist  to  see  here.  It 
is  located  on  the  Cilician  plain  on  the  Mediterranean  sea,  has 
19,000  inhabitants  and  a  harbor  of  some  importance.  The 
streets  are  narrow  and  dirty,  just  as  in  any  other  oriental  city. 
You  cannot  expect  cleanliness  among  the  Turks. 

But  we  are  going  to  Tarsus,  a  distance  of  about  15  miles. 
The  road  leads  in  a  northeasterly  direction  over  the  Cilician 
plain,  and  to  your  left  you  have,  then,  the  Taurus  mountains. 
We  began  our  journey  at  8  o’clock  A.  M.  and  came  to  Tarsus 
at  11  A.  M.  The  road  is  quite  good  and  level.  Here  and  there 
we  saw  caravans.  They  bring  wheat  and  other  necessities 
down  through  Syria  and  Arabia.  But  look  here !  It  is  a  trac¬ 
tion  engine !  How  peculiar  to  see  it  on  the  field  here  in  old 
and  sleepy  Cilicia! 


[134] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 

Ahead  of  us  we  see  some  trees  and  houses  in  the  distance. 
It  is  Tarsus  or  as  it  is  now  called  Tersos.  Our  coachman  is  a 
good  driver  and  soon  we  are  there.  The  sun  is  very  warm 
and  it  is  very  hard  for  the  poor  horses.  Outside  of  the  town  there 
was  a  little  brook.  Oxen  and  cows  are  there  in  great  number, 
wallowing  in  the  mire  and  trying  to  find  relief  from  the  heat. 
Here  is  an  old  gateway  and  it  is  claimed  that  it  dates  from 
the  8th  century.  We  drive  along  the  street  a  little  distance 
and  I  can  hardly  comprehend  that  this  is  the  hometown  of 
Saint  Paul.  We  stop  in  front  of  the  mission  school  of  the 
Congregational  church.  When  I  came  in,  I  met  the  old,  gray¬ 
haired  and  venerable  veteran,  Dr.  Christie,  a  man  of  65  years, 
who  in  his  earlier  days  had  been  in  the  civil  war  in  the  United 
States.  He  looked  as  hearty  and  spry  as  though  he  could  live 
another  65  years.  He  was  a  missionary  every  inch  of  him.  His 
heart  was  beating  for  the  salvation  of  souls.  He  was  the  Presi¬ 
dent  of  Saint  Paul’s  College  here  at  Tarsus,  and  invited  us  for 
dinner,  but  he  had  to  withdraw  his  invitation,  because  of  the 
fact  that  he  was  called  to  the  court  as  witness  in  regard  to  the 
massacre  at  Tarsus  the  previous  spring. 

We  sat  a  long  while  and  spoke  of  the  massacre  and  it  was 
touching  to  hear  the  old  veteran  describe  his  experience  in  this 
massacre,  a  few  months  ago.  He  said,  “I  saw  a  lot  of  blood 
flow  in  the  civil  war,  for  I  was  in  many  battles,  but  never  did  I 
see  anything  so  terrible  as  the  last  massacre  here.”  Permit  me 
to  quote  a  few  words,  written  by  Dr.  Christie  regarding  this 
massacre:  “Leaving  the  ruins  of  Tarsus  behind  us,  and  hun¬ 
dreds  of  weeping  widows  and  orphans  there,  we  came  by  train 
to  Adana.  Near  the  city  the  road  runs  for  miles  through 
vineyards  and  gardens,  in  former  days  a  beautiful  sight.  But 
now  it  is  a  waste  of  desolation.  All  the  houses  of  the  Christians 
are  heaps  of  ruins.  In  and  around  those  houses  more  than  500 

[135] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


were  slain  during  three  terrible  days  of  April.  The  houses  of 
Moslems  have  not  been  injured.  We  noted  a  like  contrast  as 
respects  the  numerous  farms  on  the  plain  between  Tarsus  and 
Adana.  And  yet  the  charge  is  made,  and  believed,  that  the 
Armenians  were  the  aggressors !  In  the  once  prosperous 
Adana,  nothing  but  ruins.  It  is  like  the  pictures  I  have  seen 
of  Pompeii.  The  wretched  survivors  wander  by  twos  and  threes 
around  the  places,  where  once  stood  their  happy  homes.  They 
look  more  like  ghosts  than  human  beings,  these  pale,  dejected, 
barefooted  widows  and  orphans,  picking  their  way  with  diffi¬ 
culty  over  the  heaps  of  broken  stones  that  fill  the  streets.  As 
I  saw  them,  and  talked  with  some  of  them ;  as  I  thought  of  the 
happiness  and  prosperity  that  were  theirs  so  lately,  but  now 
vanished  forever ;  and  then  as  I  remembered  the  thousands  of 
other  happy  homes  destroyed  in  this  our  beautiful  Cilicia; 
the  churches  and  schools  leveled  with  the  ground ;  worst  of  all 
the  mangled  and  unburied  bodies  of  such  multitudes  of  inno¬ 
cent  men,  women  and  children  —  as  I  thought  of  all  this,  I  felt 
that  a  new  Jeremiah  must  arise  among  us  to  pour  forth  another 
Lamentation.  The  great  city,  that  invited  so  many  strangers 
to  find  their  homes  here,  has  not  now  one  home  to  offer  even 
to  her  own  children.  The  roads  that  used  to  bring  caravans 
from  every  direction  to  this  land,  flowing  with  milk  and  honey, 
are  now  deserted  of  men  and  beast.  The  sacred  waters  of  the 
Sarus,  that  once  made  this  plain  a  great  garden,  have  been  pol¬ 
luted  by  thousands  of  bloody  corpses  that  the  river  has  had 
to  bear  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea.” 

So  great  and  hospitable  a  plain,  and  yet  it  could  not  spare 
the  ground  to  furnish  these  martyrs  with  a  grave!  Ah  yes, 
many  a  man,  woman,  and  child  were  burned  to  ashes  and  had 
their  home  for  a  grave !  0,  ye  Heavens,  how  could  you  look 
upon  such  devilish  acts  with  your  holy  eyes? 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


On  our  way  from  Adana  to  Missis  (the  ancient  Mopsu- 
estia),  we  passed  by  a  spot  where  two  Christian  villages  had 
been,  Abdoghloo  and  Injirli.  In  the  former  there  were  sixty 
Armenian  houses  and  two  Turkish.  The  Turks  tried  to  protect 
their  Christian  neighbors,  but  the  cruel  mob  threatened  them, 
so  that  last  they  had  to  let  the  bloodthirsty  crowd  work  their 
will.  Every  person  perished,  except  four  or  five  little  children. 
Injirli  was  treated  in  like  manner,  most  of  the  people  being 
killed  with  axes.  Only  a  few  children  and  women  escaped  to 
Adana,  and  nearly  all  of  these  perished  in  the  second  Adana 
massacre.  Scores  had  taken  refuge  in  a  large  house  at  Injirli. 
It  was  burned  with  all  its  inmates.  In  the  one  street  and  the 
open  space  lie  other  bodies,  half  eaten  by  dogs,  jackals  and 
vultures.  A  traveler,  who  came  through  the  great  pass,  north 
of  Tarsus,  the  Cilician  Gates,  quite  recently,  says,  there  is  not 
a  vulture  now  to  be  seen  in  the  mountains ;  the  carcasses  of 
animals  lie  there  untouched;  the  great  birds  prefer  what  they 
now  find  in  abundance  on  the  plain. 

We  reached  Missis  just  before  dark.  Here  there  are  ex¬ 
tensive  ancient  ruins  on  both  banks  of  the  Pyramus ;  the  blood¬ 
stained  broken  walls  of  forty  modern  houses  have  been  added 
to  them.  Not  a  soul  was  left  alive  except  the  two  blacksmiths, 
whose  work  is  necessary  to  the  Moslem  villagers,  and  who  were 
compelled  to  turn  Mohammedans.  When  some  women  who  had 
been  spared  were  about  to  be  divided  among  the  murderers, 
they  escaped,  and  running  to  the  bridge  over  the  Pyramus,  cast 
themselves  into  the  river,  preferring  death  to  dishonor.  The  waves 
sang  their  funeral  dirge,  and  the  sea  now  keeps  their  bodies  to 
the  resurrection  day.  Brave  sisters !  Glorious  martyrs !  Your 
story  shall  be  told  in  Cilicia  through  all  coming  ages.  Mop- 
suestia  shall  no  longer  be  famous  through  its  great  Bishop  The¬ 
odore,  the  friend  of  Chrysostom;  its  Christian  martyrs  have 

[137] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


now  given  it  a  new  renown.  Only  two  years  ago,  the  people 
here  and  their  children  gave  to  a  lady  missionary  a  bag  of 
coppers,  the  collections  during  the  winter  in  behalf  of  the 
child  widows  of  India.  He  who  commended  the  widow’s  mite 
has  now  received  the  givers  into  his  unspeakable  glory  and  joy. 
They  were  faithful  in  that  which  was  least,  and  when  the  time 
came,  in  that  which  was  greatest. 

Late  that  evening  we  came  to  Hamidieh,  about  twenty-five 
miles  east  of  Adana.  No  friend  was  there  to  meet  us,  all  of 
those  with  whom  we  had  talked,  when  coming  west  a  few 
months  ago  were  gone.  In  a  cotton  factory  belonging  to  a 
Frenchman  we  found  the  very  few  Armenians  who  are  still 
alive.  Then  we  saw  the  widow  of  the  minister  and  one  or  two 
hopeless,  helpless  people,  all  that  are  left  of  our  many  friends. 
More  than  five  hundred  were  killed  in  the  town,  and  more  than 
fifteen  hundred  in  the  fields  around  it.  The  horrid  work  con¬ 
tinued  for  twenty-two  days;  for  scores  of  Christians  had  hid¬ 
den  themselves  in  the  growing  grain ;  the  Turks  hunted  these 
down  with  dogs,  and  slew  them  to  the  last  man.  The  large 
Christian  population  of  this  region  had  been  wiped  out.  The 
Turks  can  now  enjoy  their  absolute  possession  of  the  whole  of 
this  great  plain.  Four  decrepit  old  men  are  all  that  are  left  of 
the  Hamidieh  congregation.  There  were  about  four  hundred 
houses  belonging  to  the  Armenians ;  they  and  their  shops  are 
all  gone.  The  women  and  children  were  not  killed ;  there  are 
almost  four  hundred  of  these  widows  and  orphans.  What  is 
their  future  to  be  ? 

On  the  next  day  we  reached  Osmanieh,  at  the  east  end  of 
the  Cilician  plain,  about  fifty-five  miles  from  Adana.  Here 
also  there  was  a  fearful  massacre  on  the  fifteenth  of  April.  The 
first  to  die  was  our  old  friend  Giragos  Mamalian.  His  house 
was  plundered,  but  not  burned,  as  it  is  near  the  mosque.  We 

[  138  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


found  few  survivors,  all  with  sad  stories  to  tell.  Thirty-five 
families  took  refuge  in  the  Gregorian  church,  and  were  there 
destroyed  by  fire ;  the  few  who  ran  out  of  the  building  were 
slain  in  the  street.  The  little  children  died  with  the  rest.  In 
Osmanieh  three  hundred  and  twenty  of  the  inhabitants  and 
three  hundred  and  four  laborers  who  had  come  from  the  moun¬ 
tain  villages,  were  killed.  Two  hundred  houses  were  burned. 
Eighteen  men  were  protected  in  the  telegraph  office  for  three 
days.  But  notwithstanding  all  that  the  good  operator,  Sabri 
Effendi  of  Elbistan,  could  do,  the  mob  at  last  got  hold  of  the 
refugees,  first  put  out  their  eyes  and  then  hacked  them  to  pieces. 
The  ferocity  displayed  in  this  massacre  is  almost  unbelievable. 
Four  Armenians  fled  to  the  mountain,  where  they  lived  for  some 
days  on  grass  and  roots.  At  length  they  ventured  down,  and 
came  to  the  Government  house  as  a  place  of  safety.  But  the 
soldiers  and  sabtiehs  there  put  them  to  death  without  mercy. 
Here  and  in  Jebel  about  thirty  men  became  Moslems  and  were 
circumcised.  Only  seventeen  men  are  left  in  all  in  Osmanieh, 
five  Protestants  and  twelve  Gregorians.  Our  church  here  had 
become  self  supporting ;  now  the  pastors  and  nearly  all  the 
members  are  dead.  The  women  told  me  a  story  that  came 
like  a  gleam  of  light  in  all  this  darkness.  The  father  and 
mother  in  a  Greek  family,  under  the  threat  of  death,  consented 
to  become  Moslems.  They  tried  to  persuade  their  son  to  do  the 
same,  telling  him  there  was  no  sin  involved,  since  they  were 
under  compulsion.  But  the  boy  nobly  refused,  saying,  “I  can 
not  deny  my  Lord,  I  will  not  become  a  Moslem.”  The  infuri¬ 
ated  mob  heard  him  and  fired  at  him,  wounding  him  in  the  face, 
but  as  by  a  miracle  he  escaped  death.  Who  do  you  suppose 
it  was?  None  other  than  our  dear  little  Bayesios!  The  brave 
little  man !  When  I  told  the  women  I  was  surprised  at  his 
courage,  they  said,  “0,  but  you  know  he  studied  in  the  Tarsus 


[139] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


College.  I  liope  you  will  tell  all  the  friends  of  the  college.” 
A  confession  like  that  shines  out  like  a  star  in  the  dark  and 
cloudy  night.  It  confronts  us  in  all  this  misery.  May  God 
bless  the  heroes  and  heroines  like  him !  This  makes  me  think  of 
the  nearly  fifty  present  or  former  students  at  Tarsus,  who  have 
witnessed  a  good  confession,  in  various  places  at  this  time  and 
have  sealed  that  confession  with  their  blood.  Ought  not  a 
memorial  to  them  be  put  up  in  our  college  buildings?  And 
with  their  names  we  should  inscribe  that  of  Rogers,  the  teacher 
of  some  of  these  martyrs. 

The  most  sacred  spot  in  Osmanieh  is  where  our  little  church 
stood ;  we  went  to  see  it.  No  other  sight  broke  our  heart  like 
this.  For  there  are  the  ashes  of  fourteen  of  our  best  loved 
pastors  and  preachers,  of  four  delegates  of  the  churches,  and 
of  many  other  friends.  The  world  was  not  worthy  of  them. 
Among  them  was  professor  Livonian  of  the  Central  College  at 
Aintab ;  when  shall  we  see  his  like  again  ?  It  is  hard  to  under¬ 
stand  why  they  were  delivered  over  at  this  spot  to  the  angel  of 
death.  They  had  confronted  many  a  dying  Christian,  and  at  his 
funeral  had  spoken  words  of  sympathy  and  of  divine  cheer  to 
the  mourners.  But  at  their  own  death-bed  no  praying  wife  or 
child  had  the  privilege  of  kneeling,  to  receive  their  last  words 
and  treasure  them.  No  rose-surrounded  grave  holds  their 
precious  remains ;  here  they  are  under  the  ruins  of  the  church 
that  was  burnt  over  their  heads,  while  the  mob  of  crazy  fanatics 
raged  around  them.  Innocent  as  was  Abel,  the  first  martyr; 
praying  with  their  last  breath  that  their  murderers  might  be 
forgiven,  with  Christian  love  in  their  hearts  for  even  their 
enemies,  so  they  went  into  the  presence  of  their  Master.  Pre¬ 
cious  in  the  sight  of  God  is  the  death  of  His  saints.  Fragrant 
will  their  memory  ever  be  in  this  Central  Turkey  Mission. 
This  place,  and  Sai  Getchid,  where  the  other  pastors  and  dele- 


[140] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


gates  were  slain,  will  yet  be  visited  by  thousands,  as  places 
consecrated  by  sacred  memories.  He  who  said,  ‘ 4  Touch  not 
my  anointed!”  will  watch  over  their  memory  and  over  the 
work  that  they  have  left  behind  them.  To  him  we  commit  their 
cause  and  ours. 

On  the  next  day  we  came  to  Baghche,  a  little  town  nestling 
in  the  romantic  glen  in  the  heart  of  the  Amanus  mountains. 
Here  there  were  eight  hundred  Armenians.  Of  these  about  five 
hundred  remain,  all  but  fifteen  being  widows  and  orphans. 
Several  of  the  fifteen  men  are  wounded.  One  hundred  and 
forty  houses  were  burned.  The  women  were  kept  in  the 
mosque  for  three  days,  where  bloody  water  was  brought  to 
them  to  drink.  The  Armenians  had  wells  in  their  houses,  but 
the  Turks  threw  dead  bodies  into  these.  One  Turk,  Eukkesh, 
the  son  of  Hakk  Baba,  killed  forty-five  Christians  with  an  axe, 
his  companions  holding  them  for  him.  What  a  heart! 

On  the  way  to  Fundajak  the  next  day,  we  came  to  a  place, 
where  over  a  hundred  men  of  Marash  were  killed,  while  on 
their  way  to  find  work  in  the  Cilician  plain.  We  thought  this 
would  be  the  last;  but  at  “The  Fountain  of  the  Sun”  we  met 
some  Armenians  who  were  gathering  up  the  remains  of  fifteen 
others  who  had  there  been  killed.  It  seems  that  these  fifteen 
had  fled  from  Kharne,  when  the  massacre  broke  out  there.  A 
Turkish  chief  named  Ibish,  and  his  sons,  received  them  to  their 
village,  gave  them  food,  then  in  the  evening  took  them  all  out 
and  murdered  them.  One’s  heart  is  sick  of  these  unvarying 
tales  of  merciless  slaughter  of  innocent  Christians.  We  have  to 
remember,  however,  that  they  are  no  new  thing  in  Turkish 
history;  again  and  again  have  like  atrocities  shocked  the  civi¬ 
lized  world.  These  things  will  continue  till  the  Ottomans 
accept  the  gospel  of  the  meek  and  lowly  and  merciful  Jesus, 
or  until  the  power  of  the  sword  is  taken  away  from  them. 

[141] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


When  the  Fundajak  friends  saw  us  they  praised  God  for  show¬ 
ing  them  again  some  living  Armenians.  On  our  part  we  were 
glad  to  see  once  more  a  town  as  yet  unburned.  Our  pleasure 
was  the  same  in  Marash.  But  we  learned  with  sorrow  that 
some  six  hundred  men  were  killed  on  the  Adana  plain,  or  when 
on  the  way  hither.  Only  about  thirty  were  slain  in  the  city 
itself.  Thus  our  arrival  in  Marash  and  meeting  with  friends 
ended  this  heart-breaking  journey.” 

We  spoke  of  these  massacres  until  Dr.  Christie  was  com¬ 
pelled  to  go  and  then  we  went  out  to  see  the  school  buildings. 
On  a  hill  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  school  we  had  a  splendid 
view  of  the  city  and  that  part  burned  in  the  last  massacre.  In 
the  town  of  Tarsus  six  hundred  were  killed  and  in  the  whole 
vicinity  and  the  neighboring  towns  eighteen  thousand, 
and  nearly  all  these  in  three  days,  the  14th,  15th  and  16th  of 
April.  The  son-in-law  of  Dr.  Christie,  Rogers,  was  shot  right 
in  front  of  him.  As  a  consequence  of  these  massacres  the 
country  was  under  martial  law  and  so-called  court  martials 
were  held  in  Tarsus  and  other  towns  in  the  vicinity  at  this  time. 
It  was  to  such  a  court  that  Dr.  Christie  was  called  as  a  witness. 

It  was  a  job  to  get  through  the  streets  in  the  Christian 
quarters.  The  buildings  were  burnt  and  torn  down.  It  looked 
like  the  destruction  of  Messina  of  Sicily,  of  which  we  shall 
speak  later. 

I  do  not  remember  ever  having  seen  anything  that  made 
such  a  sad  impression  on  me,  as  this  part  of  Tarsus.  You 
could  read  desolation  and  ruin  everywhere.  Only  the  old  walls 
stood  there  as  specters  of  the  bloody  days  of  last  April,  testi¬ 
fying  what  had  happened. 

Most  of  those  who  had  lived  here  in  this  quarter,  were 
either  killed,  or  driven  away.  In  Adana  it  was  still  worse,  as 
we  have  seen  by  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Christie.  It  is  impossible 

[  142  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


to  describe  it.  My  fellow  companion,  the  druggist  Rejebian, 
told  me  that  in  a  family  the  mother  and  the  daughters  were 
most  shamefully  treated,  and  the  father  was  flayed,  while  still 
alive,  which  took  about  two  hours.  Then  they  killed  him. 

There  are  now  about  eighteen  thousand  citizens  in  Tarsus. 
A  great  deal  of  business  is  being  done  here.  The  plain  around 
here  is  very  fruitful,  but  unhealthy.  In  the  earlier  days  the 
river  Kydnos  ran  through  the  town,  but  now  it  is  a  quarter 
of  an  hour’s  journey  to  the  east.  The  town  is  partly  sur¬ 
rounded  by  a  wall,  and  it  is  said  that  a  certain  Harundel-Ra- 
schid  built  it.  Most  of  the  houses  in  Tarsus  have  only  one  story 
and  look  very  poor.  Here  on  these  streets  the  little  boy  Paul 
used  to  run  around,  and  yet  not  on  these  streets.  Dr.  Christie 
told  me  that  you  would  have  to  dig  down  forty  feet,  before 
you  would  be  down  on  the  streets  on  which  Paul  (or  Saul) 
was  walking. 

The  city  of  Tarsus  became  noted  for  its  schools  and  the 
Stoics  had  their  representatives  here.  Tarsus  sent  out  its 
teachers  to  various  parts  of  the  world  and  even  to  Rome.  But 
the  most  renowned  son  of  Tarsus  is  Paul,  the  Apostle  to  the 
Gentiles. 

To  this  place  they  brought  Julian,  known  in  history  as  the 
Apostate  when  he  had  fallen  in  the  war  against  the  Scythians. 
Here  he  was  buried.  Here  Cleopatra  sailed  up  the  river  Kyd¬ 
nos,  in  her  well  decorated  ship,  at  the  command  of  her  lover, 
Antonius.  The  people  at  this  place  were  then  very  much  given 
to  pleasures  and  lived  a  licentious  life.  It  is  said,  that  the  old 
proverb,  which  Paul  quotes  in  1  Cor.  15  :32,  was  written  on  the 
statue  of  Sardanapolus,  in  the  neighboring  town  of  Aukiale. 
This  seems  to  have  been  the  watchword  of  the  people  in  this 
section,  and,  sad  to  say,  it  is  the  watchword  of  these  times  for 
many  a  one,  “Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  tomorrow  we  die.” 

[143] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


We  returned  to  Messina  and  thence  sailed  to  Alexandretta. 
The  town  lies  by  the  sea  on  a  little  plain,  which  extends  to  the 
foot  of  the  mountains.  We  are  now  in  the  northeast  corner  of 
the  Mediterranean  sea,  and  to  the  northeast  of  us  we  see  the 
battlefield  of  Issus,  where  Alexander  the  Great  won  a  complete 
victory  over  the  Persian  king  Darius  in  333  B.  C. 

The  town  of  Alexandretta  marks  the  boundary  line  between 
Syria  and  Asia  Minor  and  we  might  say  between  the  Turkish 
and  the  Syrian  languages.  Here  our  boat  stopped  nearly  all 
day  and  put  on  freight,  which  consisted  of  oxen,  horses,  sheep 
and  goats.  It  was  very  interesting  to  see  how  they  put  these 
animals  on  the  boat.  They  tied  together  half  a  dozen  sheep 
by  their  feet,  hoisted  them  up  from  the  boat  below,  and  then 
let  them  down  in  our  boat.  They  put  a  certain  saddle  on  the 
horses  and  then  hoisted  them  up  in  the  air,  and  then  let  them 
down  on  our  steamer.  Sometimes  the  ropes  broke  and  the  poor 
animals  fell  down  from  a  great  height.  This  looked  rather 
rough,  but  we  must  remember,  that  we  are  in  Turkish  territory, 
and  the  Turks  are  not  very  tender  hearted. 

As  we  left  Alexandretta,  a  strong  storm  blew  up  from  the 
northwest  and  in  a  little  while  the  sea  was  white  with  foam. 
Just  before,  the  waves  had  rolled  in  on  the  coast  from  the  south¬ 
west.  A  very  heavy  rain  fell  and  I  sat  on  the  deck  in  spite 
of  the  heavy  rain,  because  I  wished  to  see  Seleucia  on  the  coast 
further  south.  It  became  dark  very  early,  because  of  the 
heavy  clouds  that  covered  the  heavens.  But  the  land  in  the 
east  was  clearly  visible  now  and  then,  owing  to  the  bright 
lightning  late  in  the  evening. 

Over  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountains  lies  the  city  of 
Antioch.  It  is  an  old  town  and  is  located  on  the  banks  of  the 
river  Orontes.  It  was  founded  by  Seleucus  Nicator  in  the 
year  300  B.  C.,  and  was  called  after  his  father  Antiochus.  No 

[144] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


city  is  so  closely  related  to  the  Apostolic  church  as  Antioch 
with  the  exception  of  Jerusalem.  One  of  the  seven  deacons  in 
the  mother  church  at  Jerusalem  was  from  Antioch  (Acts  6:5). 
When  persecutions  arose  in  Jerusalem  against  the  Christians, 
they  were  scattered  in  all  directions.  The  Jews  and  the  Gen¬ 
tiles  thought  that  they  could  prevent  the  spreading  of  the 
Christian  doctrine,  but  they  had  miscalculated.  The  more 
they  persecuted  the  Christians,  the  more  the  latter  were  scat- 
tered,  and  wherever  they  came,  they  worked  for  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ ;  and  thus  the  Christians  be¬ 
came  living  seed  that  bore  fruit  to  the  honor  and  glory  of  God. 
It  was  Christians  from  Jerusalem  that  preached  the  Gospel  first 
in  Antioch  and  thus  a  church  was  founded  here.  Here  the  fol- 
lowers  of  Christ  were  first  called  Christians  (Acts  11:25).  In 
this  connection  we  might  mention,  that  the  people  of  Antioch 
were  very  quick  and  witty  and  were  known  to  give  their  fel- 
lowmen  nicknames.  The  people  of  Antioch  thus  did  not  have 
very  much  use  for  the  name,  which  we  adore  and  bless. 

From  Antioch  Paul  and  Barnabas  together  with  Mark 
went  out  to  tell  the  story  of  the  cross  to  their  fellowmen  and 
to  place  the  world  at  the  feet  of  the  lowly  Nazarene.  Starting 
out  on  their  first  journey,  they  went  down  the  river  Orontes 
to  Seleucia,  the  port-town  of  Antioch.  While  a  very  hard 
storm  was  raging  and  the  wind  was  howling  in  the  railing 
and  sail,  and  while  the  lightning  was  flashing  among  the 
mountains  over  yonder,  in  the  Syrian  coast  regions,  we  passed 
by  Seleucia.  The  thought  of  these  three  men,  whose  hearts 
were  burning  with  love  and  zeal,  came  to  me  very  vividly. 
They  sailed  along  just  where  we  were  steaming  southward 
along  the  coast.  It  was  dark  out  on  the  billows;  the  day  was 
ended.  Our  old  boat  rolled  quite  heavily.  It  became  quite 
lonely  to  sit  on  the  deck  this  dark  evening,  so  I  went  to  bed,  know- 

[145] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


ing  that  the  next  day  I  would  come  to  the  outposts  of  the 
country  which  was  the  object  of  my  journey,  the  Land  of 
Promise. 

In  the  morning  of  September  11th,  I  arose  at  five  o’clock, 
just  as  the  boat  was  about  to  anchor  outside  of  Tripolis.  The 
sun  was  not  up  yet  and  it  looked  a  little  dark  and  gloomy. 
To  the  east  I  noticed  a  mountain  range,  extending  north  and 
south  very  majestically.  I  did  not  need  to  hunt  in  my  guide 
book  to  find  the  name  of  this  range.  It  is  the  northern  end  of 
Lebanon,  which  I  see  before  me,  the  Lebanon  of  the  Scriptures, 
Lebanon  of  the  songs  and  sagas.  I  was  alone  on  the  deck 
with  the  exception  of  some  of  the  crew  of  the  vessel.  The 
other  passengers  slept  soundly  in  their  cabins  or  down  on  the 
lower  deck.  My  heart  was  beating  a  little  faster  than  usual, 
because  I  had  now  come  so  far  that  I  could  see  Lebanon.  I  for¬ 
got  the  town  and  its  surroundings.  My  eyes  were  resting  on 
the  majestic  mountains.  Proudly  they  rise  like  a  wall  here  in 
this  part  of  Syria  and  extend  south  along  the  Mediterranean 
coast. 

This  is  our  last  day  on  the  steamer  Zariza,  and  hence  a  few 
words  about  this  our  home  for  five  days  and  nights.  I  have 
already  intimated,  that  the  steamer  is  an  old,  rickety  and  dirty 
vessel,  and  even  the  Mohammedans,  who  are  known  to  live 
very  much  in  filth,  said  that  the  Russian  government  ought  to 
be  punished  for  permitting  such  a  vessel  to  take  passengers. 
Many  of  the  passengers  bought  what  is  known  as  “deck- 
ticket,”  and  on  the  deck  they  are  living,  and  here  they  are 
preparing  their  meals,  here  they  sleep,  pray  and  play  cards. 
It  appeared  to  me  that  many  of  them  were  real  barbarians,  and 
some  of  them  lived  much  as  animals.  Some  seemed  to  be  re¬ 
ligious;  others  cared  nothing  for  God  and  lived  a  godless  life. 
Three  times  a  day  I  saw  the  Mohammedans  perform  their  re- 

[  146  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


ligious  exercises,  and  they  did  so  with  a  devotion  that  was  very 
touching.  The  Jews,  who  lived  on  the  deck  among  Arabs, 
Turks,  chickens,  geese,  oxen,  goats,  and  sheep,  appeared  to  be 
a  people  very  much  suppressed  by  poverty  and  persecution. 
Every  morning  I  saw  them  sit  on  the  deck,  gathering  their 
children  around  them,  and  reading  the  Hebrew  Bible ;  and  it 
was  a  pleasure  to  me  to  see  the  little  tots  read  the  Bible. 

An  old  Jew  seemed  to  me  to  be  very  downhearted.  I  went 
and  spoke  to  him.  He  was  from  Russia,  but  spoke  quite  good 
German.  I  asked  him  whither  he  was  going  and  he  said, 
“Nach  Jerusalem”  (To  Jerusalem).  When  I  asked  him  further 
what  he  planned  to  do  in  the  Holy  city,  he  said,  “Ich  armer 
Mensch,  was  soil  Ich  da  thun?”  (Wretched  man,  that  I  am, 
what  shall  I  do  there?)  I  thought  of  Paul  and  his  expression  in 
the  letter  to  the  Romans,  “ Wretched  man  that  I  am.”  Here, 
then,  was  one  of  those  Jews,  who  was  on  his  way  to  his  own 
home  country,  and  it  appeared  to  me  that  he  was  very  much 
oppressed.  He  and  many  other  Jews  were  reading  daily  the 
Old  Testament.  I  was  very  glad,  indeed,  to  find  some  that  were 
striving  for  something  higher  than  eating,  drinking,  sleeping, 
and  being  merry.  The  last  day  on  the  boat  I  happened  to  meet 
a  doctor,  who  had  recently  graduated  from  the  Medical  Col¬ 
lege  at  Beirut.  He  was  an  Armenian  and  spoke  good  English, 
and  we  conversed  for  a  long  time  about  the  Armenian  question; 
a  question  that  is  so  very  dear  and  vital  to  the  hearts  of  those 
poor  people.  One  who  has  not  studied  the  Armenian  question 
has  no  idea  of  the  suffering  of  these  people  and  the  amount  of 
blood  that  has  been  flowing  because  of  the  sword  of  Mohammed. 
The  young  physician  told  me  that  he,  when  he  visited  his 
mother  at  Aleppo  in  Syria,  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  Turkish 
authorities  in  Aleppo,  and  kept  by  them  22  days,  because  he 
did  not  wish  to  pay  them  bakschisch.  He  had  a  letter  in  his 


i 


[147] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


pocket,  a  letter  to  a  friend,  and  in  this  letter  he  used  some 
medical  terms,  as  H2  SO4,  and  because  of  this  they  tried  to 
make  out  a  case  against  him.  They  said,  “H  signifies  Hammid 
or  the  Sultan,  and  0  signifies  nothing,”  and  hence  they  reasoned 
that  he  had  written  to  his  friend  that  the  Sultan  is  nothing,  or 
no  good.  It  must  have  been  a  condition  wicked  beyond  descrip¬ 
tion  during  the  regime  of  Abdul  Hamid.  This  young  doctor 
said  right  out,  that  the  massacres  on  the  Armenians  were  in¬ 
stigated  by  the  Sultan,  and  no  doubt  that  was  the  case,  because 
he  wished  to  suppress  that  element  in  his  realm,  which  was 
laboring  for  another  form  of  government,  the  constitutional 
form  of  government  which  the  young  Turks  and  the  Armenians 
were  striving  for.  But  even  the  old  Sultan  went  with  his  jar 
to  the  well,  until  it  was  broken  under  his  hands.  And  a  better 
day  has  already  come  for  the  poor  Armenians. 

It  is  11  o’clock  in  the  forenoon  and  we  are  leaving  Tripolis. 
The  next  place  is  Beirut.  The  wind  blew  against  us  all  day. 
I  was  sitting  on  the  deck  all  the  time  watching  the  magnificent 
panorama  of  yonder  Lebanon  mountains.  We  saw  the  clouds 
on  the  top  of  the  mountains  and  rainstorms  were  raging  along 
the  sides.  Here  and  there  on  the  slopes  of  Lebanon  we  saw 
beautiful  orchards,  towns  and  villages  in  abundance.  A  more 
romantic  view  is  hard  to  find. 

But  look !  There  is  a  city  on  the  promontory,  jutting  out 
in  the  sea.  It  is  Beirut.  At  2  o’clock  we  are  there  in  the  bay 
and  our  boat  anchors.  Here  the  Arabs  and  the  Turks  are  more 
noisy  than  at  other  previous  places,  and  that  is  saying  a  good 
deal.  The  best  thing  under  the  circumstances  is  to  stand  still 
and  take  it  easy  and  make  them  believe,  that  you  care  for 
nothing  and  might  go  further  on  with  the  boat.  But  you 
must  take  care  of  your  baggage ;  otherwise  the  limber  Arabs 
will  run  away  with  it,  and  it  will  not  take  long  either. 


[148] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


The  young  man  from  Budapest,  Mr.  Paul  Fisher,  whom  I 
had  learned  to  know  on  the  boat,  went  with  me  to  the  hotel. 
It  was  4 :30  P.  M.,  when  I  set  my  foot  on  the  holy  soil,  a  moment 
that  I  never  shall  forget.  We  came  very  easily  through  the 
custom  house  and  went  to  the  hotel  Gasman.  Here  we  found  a 
very  comfortable  place  and  it  was  a  treat  to  be  permitted  to 
come  into  a  clean  hotel  after  a  five  days’  trip  on  the  dirty  boat. 
God  be  praised  that  I  had  been  permitted  to  land  in  good 
health !  The  Lord  grant,  that  I  may  be  able  to  travel  around 
in  this  wonderful  land  and  study  its  conditions  and  look  up 
the  old  historic  places  here  and  there.  The  real  object  of  my 
travel  in  Palestine  was  to  get  a  clearer  light  on  my  Bible,  and 
in  doing  so,  to  learn  to  know  more  of  Him,  who  is  the  central 
figure  in  that  blessed  book,  the  wonderful  Godman  from  Galilee. 


[149] 


Chapter  IX 

FROM  BEIRUT  TO  DAMASCUS 


E  are  now  on  Biblical  ground,  although  not  in  Palestine 


proper.  Nevertheless,  we  are  in  a  land  often  mentioned 


in  the  Scriptures,  and  for  this  reason  this  country  is  of  great 
importance  to  the  Bible  student.  Beirut,  Berothai  or  Berothah, 
is  the  principal  city  of  the  eastern  coast  of  the  Mediterranean 
sea,  and  the  largest  commercial  center  on  the  Syrian  coast. 
During  the  last  decade  it  has  developed  very  fast  in  every  way. 
It  is  the  influence  of  the  European  and  American  missionaries 
that  has  helped  to  bring  about  this  wonderful  change.  Here 
the  mission  schools  have  struck  deep  roots,  and  the  influence 
is  felt  throughout  the  whole  of  Syria. 

Beirut  is  a  very  old  city.  It  existed  in  the  fourteenth  cen¬ 
tury  before  our  era,  as  we  can  find  out  from  the  travelogue  of 
a  certain  Mohar,  an  Egyptian,  whose  name  is  not  known.  He 
styles  himself  “Mohar,”  which  means  “author.”  This  man 
wrote  a  travelogue  about  his  journey  in  Syria  and  adjoining 
countries  at  the  time  of  Rameses  II,  or  about  1392-1325  B.  C. 
He  relates  this,  his  journey,  to  a  friend  and  informs  him  of  his 
experiences.  He  tells  of  his  travels  through  the  land  of  Katta 
(Hittites).  When  returning  southward,  he  comes  to  the  cities 
Berothai,  Sidon,  Sarepta  and  Tyre.  This  very  interesting  docu¬ 
ment  was  printed  in  1866,  and  tells  us  that  Beirut  existed 
when  Rameses  II  ruled  in  the  Nile  Valley. 

This  city  is  spoken  of  in  the  Scriptures.  In  2  Sam.  8  :8  we 
read  that  David  slew  Hadarezer,  the  king  of  Sobah,  and  took 


[150] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


booty  from  him  and  brought  it  to  Jerusalem.  “And  from 
Betah,  and  from  Berothai,  cities  of  Hadarezer,  king  David  took 
exceedingly  much  brass.”  The  prophet  Hezekiel  describes  the 
northern  boundary  of  the  Holy  Land  thus,  “Hamath,  Berothah, 
Sibraim,  which  is  between  the  border  of  Damascus  and  the 
border  of  Hamath.”  (Hez.  47:16). 

The  word  “Berothai”  means  “wells”  and  many  believe 
that  Beirut  is  the  Berothai  of  the  Scriptures,  because  so  many 
wells  have  been  found  in  this  neighborhood.  According  to  the 
Jewish  historian,  Flavius  Josephus,  it  was  here  in  Beirut,  that 
Herod  put  to  death  his  two  sons,  Aristobulus  and  Alexander. 
He  was  the  accuser  and  did  not  even  permit  his  own  sons  to 
defend  themselves.  This  was  just  like  Herod.  The  Emperor 
Vespasian  liberated  the  historian  Josephus  from  his  chains 
here,  because  the  latter  had  predicted  that  Vespasian  would 
become  emperor.  It  was  here  that  the  emperor  celebrated  the 
birth  of  his  father  by  putting  to  death  five  thousand  Jews.  It 
was  here  that  Herod  Agrippa  put  up  a  very  costly  theatre  and 
spent  his  last  days  in  gluttony  and  licentious  living.  Here  a 
law  school  was  established  by  the  Romans,  and  here  was  a 
bishopric  in  the  early  days  of  the  Christian  church.  A  synod¬ 
ical  meeting  was  held  here  in  448.  In  552  an  earthquake  shook 
the  city  so  that  30,000  people  were  killed.  The  Arabs  took  it 
in  638  and  Saladin  captured  it  after  the  battle  of  Hattin  in 
1187.  Since  1518,  it  has  been  under  the  Turkish  government, 
but  now  and  then  the  Druses  of  Lebanon  have  ruled  over  it. 

This  city  is  of  the  greatest  importance  for  Syria  and 
Palestine.  It  is  a  commercial  center  and  there  is  a  very  power¬ 
ful  mission  station  in  this  section  of  the  country.  Its  popula¬ 
tion  at  present  numbers  about  125,000,  and  it  is  growing  very 
rapidly.  There  are  about  one  hundred  higher  and  lower  in¬ 
stitutions  of  learning  in  Beirut  and  about  10,000  pupils.  The 


[151] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


American  school,  the  Syrian  Protestant  College,  was  founded 
in  1866,  and  630  students  attend  it.  This  institution  has  a  The¬ 
ological,  Medical  and  Commercial  College  and  a  school  for 
druggists.  This  school  is  very  well  equipped  in  every  way.  In 
this  city  there  are  a  great  many  hospitals  and  orphan  homes, 
erected  by  the  various  churches  that  do  mission  work  here. 

The  city  is  located  in  a  very  beautiful  region,  and  has  a 
very  good  climate.  It  looks  very  much  like  a  huge  orchard. 
The  houses  look  quite  good,  especially  in  that  portion  of  the 
city  which  is  occupied  by  the  Europeans.  The  stores  are  quite 
modern  and  somewhat  resemble  the  stores  in  Europe  and 
America. 

In  the  afternoon  I  went  to  the  American  Consulate.  The 
consul  was  not  in  at  the  time  and  I  did  not  meet  him.  From 
the  consulate  I  went  to  the  wharf,  along  a  very  narrow  street, 
where  loaded  camels,  asses,  ragged  children,  and  a  great  throng 
of  people  were  going  back  and  forth.  When  I  saw  the  enor¬ 
mous  burdens  that  these  animals  carried,  I  was  simply  amazed. 
Such  piles  of  stones  and  lumber!  At  last,  I  came  to  Cook’s 
office.  It  is  located  near  by  the  sea.  Here  I  went  back  and 
forth  for  some  time,  listening  to  the  roar  of  the  billows.  They 
Were  beating  furiously  against  the  shore.  It  was  a  stormy 
day.  They  rolled  in  from  the  distant  west,  bringing  me  a 
greeting  from  my  hearth  and  home  in  the  distant  Occident. 
When  you  are  far  away  from  home  and  are  roaming  among 
all  kinds  of  people,  you  are  often  thinking  of  your  home  and 
the  best  country  on  which  the  sun  shines.  There  is  my  own 
dear,  sweet  home. 

The  following  day  was  Sunday.  My  fellow  traveler,  Mr. 
Fisher,  wished  to  go  to  Damascus  and  I  felt  that  I  could  not 
leave  him  and  be  alone.  I  therefore  went  along.  We  arose 
quite  early.  The  train  was  to  leave  at  7 :20  in  the  morning. 

[152] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


At  last  we  are  ready  and  off  we  go.  We  passed  through 
orchards  and  parks,  where  the  houses  are  seen  between  the 
olives,  oleanders,  palms  and  mulberry  trees.  Outside  the  city 
we  find  a  hedge  of  cypress  trees,  walnut  trees,  and  further  on 
we  see  fields  of  grain;  cotton  and  rice  also  grow  there  in  the 
proper  season.  It  is  autumn  and  yet  we  see  such  a  growth 
everywhere.  We  are  simply  delighted  at  such  a  rich  and 
glorious  land  as  we  find  here. 

Soon  we  reach  the  foot  of  Lebanon,  and  now  we  shall 
climb  its  steep  sides.  I  had  never  been  so  near  to  this  moun¬ 
tain  before.  Several  days  I  had  looked  at  it  from  a  distance, 
but  now  I  am,  at  last,  at  its  foot  and  about  ready  to  climb  over  it. 
And  now  we  are  going  over  it  not  as  the  pilgrims  used  to  do  in  the 
olden  times,  but  by  rail.  Think  of  it !  Over  Lebanon  by  rail ! 
The  sleepy  Orient  is  aroused  by  the  activity  of  the  Occident ! 

It  soon  becomes  evident  that  the  railroad  engineers  did 
not  have  a  very  easy  time  in  laying  out  the  road  over  these 
mountains.  But  I  had  seen  what  the  engineers  had  done  in 
the  Rockies  and  in  the  Cascades  in  our  own  country,  and  I 
know  that  they  do  almost  the  impossible  in  these  days. 

When  we  have  ascended  the  first  hill,  there  is  a  very  good 
view  of  the  city,  the  sea  and  the  vicinity.  But  greater  things 
are  in  store  for  us  as  we  ascend.  The  train  goes  very  slowly  in 
these  mountains  and  it  takes  about  four  hours  before  we  reach 
the  top  of  the  ridge.  Along  the  sides  of  the  mountains  we  see 
plantations  and  vineyards.  Here  and  there  they  have  built  walls 
to  prevent  the  soil  from  flowing  down  with  the  rain  in  the 
winter.  Every  square  foot  of  ground  is  tilled  in  &  most  careful 
manner. 

Our  train  is  going  up  the  mountain  in  a  zigzag  way,  and 
x  sometimes  they  put  the  locomotive  behind  the  train  to  push  it 
onward  along  the  steep  sides  of  the  mountain.  At  Ain  Sofar 

[153] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


there  is  a  very  beautiful  sight  over  the  sea  and  the  whole  lo¬ 
cality  toward  the  west.  The  weather  is  good  and  the  water 
runs  down  the  sides  of  the  mountains  in  small  rivulets. 
During  the  hot  season  the  citizens  of  Beirut  spend  their  sum¬ 
mer  vacation  here,  and  surely  they  could  hardly  find  a  more 
suitable  place. 

Before  we  descend  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  mountains,  we 
shall  observe  something  regarding  the  people  that  inhabit  this 
mountain,  its  valleys  and  hills.  We  noticed,  especially  on  the 
western  side  of  the  mountain,  that  a  powerful  and  an  indus¬ 
trious  class  of  people  must  have  established  themselves  here. 
Their  houses  are  built  along  the  sides  just  like  swallow’s  nests. 
Here  and  there  we  see  cloisters  or  convents,  chapels,  villages 
and  now  and  then  ruins  of  desolate  fortresses.  It  is  a  veritable 
Alpine  region  up  here  and  this  circumstance  has  had  a  marked 
influence  upon  its  people.  Their  principal  industry  is  fruit¬ 
raising.  Some  have  flocks  of  sheep  and  goats.  Here  we  find 
,the  very  best  grapes  in  the  world,  and  out  of  these  they  prepare 
a  certain  kind  of  wine,  called  gold  wine,  considered  to  be  the 
best  in  the  world.  I  do  not  know  how  it  looks  nor  how  it 
tastes,  but  it  must  be  very  good,  when  the  prophet  Hosea  lauds 
it  so  very  eloquently.  “They  that  dwell  under  his  shadow 
shall  return;  they  shall  revive  as  the  corn,  and  grow  as  the 
vine:  the  scent  thereof  shall  be  as  the  wine  of  Lebanon.”  (Hos. 
14:  7).  The  whole  forenoon,  when  we  passed  through  these 
regions,  we  did  not  forget  to  eat  these  good  grapes.  It  was  the 
time  for  the  grapes  and  we  made  use  of  the  opportunity. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  people  that  dwell  here,  namely  the 
Maronites  and  the  Druses.  The  Maronite  Christians  belong  to 
the  Catholic  church  and  live  on  the  principal  mountain  ranges 
and  in  the  valleys  east  of  Beirut  and  north  of  Tripolis.  The 
region,  where  most  of  them  dwelt,  is  called  Kesrauan.  They 

[154] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


have  many  ministers  who  exert  a  great  influence  upon  the 
people.  The  ministers  are  divided  into  two  classes,  higher  and 
lower.  The  former  are  not  permitted  to  marry,  but  the  latter 
are  given  this  privilege..  The  higher  class  of  ministers  are 
bound  by  the  rules  of  the  convent  of  St.  Anthony,  namely 
chastity,  and  obedience.  There  are  about  20,000  of  them  and 
they  live  in  convents  here  and  there  in  these  mountains. 

But  let  us  not  forget  that  the  Maronite  monks  cannot  pass 
their  time  away  in  idleness  and  negligence ;  they  must  till  the  soil 
|  around  the  convent  and  secure  their  support  from  the  labors  of 
their  hands.  Every  convent  is  in  reality  a  farm  and  every  village 
has  its  bishop.  The  bishops  are  bound  by  the  law  of  celibacy. 
They  choose  the  Patriarch  and  their  election  is  confirmed  by 
the  pope  at  Rome.  The  Patriarch  lives  in  the  valley  of  Lebanon, 
southeast  from  Tripolis.  Not  far  from  the  seat  of  the  Patri¬ 
arch  is  the  large  village  of  Eden.  About  ten  miles  from  here 
^are  the  large  cedars  of  Lebanon.  They  are  also  called  the 
cedars  of  Solomon  and  are  seven  in  number.  The  largest  of 
/these  trees  has  a  circumference  of  32  feet.  At  no  other  place 
on  Lebanon  do  we  find  such  old  cedars. 

The  history  of  the  Maronites  is  hidden  in  the  dim  past. 
They  received  their  name  from  a  monk  named  Maro,  who 
in  the  fifth  century  —  according  to  other  sources  he  died 
in  707  A.  D. — gathered  a  part  of  his  like-minded  brethren 
into  a  separate  church.  They  recognized  Maro  as  their  head 
and  accepted  the  monotheletic  doctrine  of  Christ ;  i.  e.  they  saw 
in  Christ  two  natures  but  one  will.  The  members  of  this 
church  were  called  Maronites  and  they  yet  hold  that  Christ  has 
only  one  will. 

The  monotheletic  doctrine  was  fought  out  in  the  seventh 
century  and  we  recollect  that  the  Emperor  of  Constantinople 
believed  in  this  doctrine.  The  little  group  of  Maronites  suc- 


[155] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


ceeded  in  defending  themselves  against  the  attacks  of  the 
Greeks  and  the  Mohammedans.  They  fought  bravely  with 
their  swords  and  conquered.  During  the  time  of  the  Crusades, 
they  came  in  contact  with  the  people  of  the  west,  and  their 
culture.  The  Roman  church  did  all  it  could  to  bind  them  to 
this  church.  It  was  during  that  time,  that  they  joined  them¬ 
selves  to  the  Roman  See,  but  they  did  not  give  up  their 
peculiarities.  It  was  not  before  1736  that  they  became  united 
to  the  church  of  Rome.  They  retain  both  wine  and  bread  in 
the  communion,  the  right  for  the  bishops  to  elect  the  Patriarch, 
the  right  to  read  the  mass  in  the  Syrian  language,  the  right  for 
the  lower  clergy  to  marry,  the  right  to  canonize  the  saints,  and 
some  other  privileges.  They  are  ardent  supporters  of  the 
church  of  Rome  and  have  succeeded  in  securing  some  political 
rights  for  themselves  from  the  civil  authorities.  They  did  not 
have  the  right  for  some  time  to  ring  the  church  bells  in  these 
sections,  but  the  Maronites  did  not  give  in,  until  they  did 
receive  this  privilege. 

Now  you  can  hear  the  tones  of  the  pealing  church  bells  in 
these  mountains  and  valleys,  and  it  was  a  treat  to  hear  them 
call  to  devotion.  It  was  Sunday. 

The  Maronites  are  about  350,000  in  number,  and  are 
scattered  all  over  the  Lebanon,  from  Damascus  to  Beirut,  and 
from  the  sea  of  Galilee  to  the  Mediterranean.  About  50,000 
of  them  are  ready  for  military  service.  Every  Maronite  car¬ 
ries  a  weapon,  and  when  it  becomes  necessary,  all  of  them  are 
warriors  and  defend  their  country  and  their  rights  with  heroic 
courage  and  bravery.  They  speak  the  Arabic  language,  and 
as  to  their  customs,  habits,  dress,  etc.,  they  belong  to  the  Arabic 
people.  They  look  very  strong  and  some  of  them  are  quite 
beautiful  in  appearance.  They  are  very  cordial  to  other 
.  people,  especially  to  European  tourists.  They  are  hot  tem- 

[  156  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 

pered  and  among  them  you  will  find  some  of  the  most 
persistent  beggars. 

The  other  people  who  live  in  these  mountains  are  the 
Druses.  Their  early  history  is  very  little  known  and  several 
authors  have  tried  to  explain  their  origin.  There  are  many 
questions  regarding  their  ethnographic  condition  that  must  be 
left  unanswered.  Though  they  speak  the  Arabic  language  as 
well  as  it  is  spoken  in  Macca ;  it  is  quite  certain  that  they  do 
not,  with  the  exception  of  certain  families  here  and  there, 
belong  to  the  Semitic  peoples.  It  has  been  claimed,  that  a  part 
of  them  belong  to  the  Indo-Germanic  branch.  Others  have 
tried  to  prove  that  they  originate  from  the  Crusaders,  and  that 
their  name  is  derived  from  a  certain  Count  by  the  name  Dreux. 
According  to  this  idea  a  certain  group  of  the  Crusaders  were 
left  in  these  regions,  and  in  the  course  of  time  they  forgot  their 
country,  their  language,  and  their  confession.  This  is  only  an 
hypothesis.  A  certain  author,  a  Jew,  Benjamin  of  Tudela 
(1173)  speaks  of  the  Druses  in  his  annotations,  and  this  proves 
that  they  were  there  already  at  the  time  of  the  Crusaders. 
This  settles  the  question. 

Their  own  traditions  unite  them  with  the  Chinese  people, 
where  they  believe  themselves  to  have  fellow  believers,  and 
from  them  they  look  for  a  deliverer.  From  a  religious  point 
of  view  their  teachings  are  the  most  peculiar  concoction  that 
can  be  imagined.  The  principal  character  in  the  religious 
system  of  the  Druses  is  Hakim  Bihamrillahi,  who  is  said  to  have 
lived  in  Egypt  about  996  A.  D.  He  was  a  crack-brained  man. 
He  was  a  bloodthirsty  tyrant  and  determined  to  burn  the  city 
of  Cairo,  but  some  time  afterward  his  dead  body  was  found  in 
the  Mokattam  mountains,  east  of  Cairo. 

Who  could  for  a  moment  believe,  that  such  a  character 
would  be  made  a  god  for  a  people.  It  sounds  unreasonable 


[157] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


and  yet  that  is  the  case.  The  Druses  believe  that  there  is  one 
God,  but  that  this  God  has  revealed  himself  in  different  incar¬ 
nations,  in  Ali,  Albar,  Alys,  Moil,  Kaim,  Maess,  Asis,  Abu 
Zecharajah,  Mansur,  and  Hakim.  No  more  incarnations  can 
come  to  pass.  Hakim  is  the  last.  This  religion  is  a  compo¬ 
sition  of  Mohammedanism,  Judaism,  and  Christianity. 

The  Druses  do  not  permit  polygamy,  but  it  is  very  easy  to 
secure  a  divorce  from  the  wife.  The  ceremony  at  marriage  is 
very  much  as  among  other  Oriental  people.  The  bridegroom 
does  not  often  see  his  wife,  before  he  is  married  to  her.  The  Druses 
endeavor  to  educate  their  people  and  even  their  women  can 
both  read  and  write.  The  condition  among  them  is  quite  dif¬ 
ferent  from  that  of  the  other  people  of  the  Orient.  They  keep 
their  religious  writings  very  sacred,  and  are  advised  to  kill  him 
who  keeps  their  sacred  writings,  if  he  is  a  person  outside  of 
their  religion.  But  although  they  are  so  very  particular  and 
keep  their  sacred  writings  with  such  great  care,  yet  some  of 
their  writings  have  been  brought  to  Europe.  In  this  way  their 
religion  has  become  known  in  other  parts  of  the  world. 

Bloody  feuds  have  occurred  time  and  again  between  the 
Druses  and  the  Maronites  here  on  Lebanon.  They  are  old 
enemies.  They  consider  blood  vengeance  a  sacred  duty.  In 
1860  there  was  a  fearful  feud  among  these  peoples.  The 
Maronites  were  the  losers.  The  Druses  were  determined  to 
extirpate  their  opponents.  The  Greeks  and  Catholics  were  not 
spared  and  the  Turkish  Government  looked  upon  these  things 
with  indifference,  giving  their  support  to  the  murderers.  The 
real  author  of  this  awful  massacre  was  the  Governor  of  Damas¬ 
cus,  Sheik  Halebi,  and  the  Governor  Kurchid  of  Beirut.  The 
religious  wars  in  history  have  always  been  the  bloodiest,  and 
that  was  the  case  with  the  war  of  1860  between  these  peoples. 
The  fearful  condition  during  the  massacre  on  Lebanon  is  be- 


[158] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


yond  description.  The  massacre  in  Damascus  began  in  July, 
1860,  and  was  kept  up  continually  for  five  days.  In  the 
Christian  quarter  of  Damascus  3,000  houses  were  burnt,  and 
6,000  of  the  Christian  population,  which  numbered  about  30,000, 
were  killed.  Achmed  Pascha,  the  Governor  of  Damascus,  sat 
calmly  in  his  palace  and  it  is  claimed  that  he  had  a  Turkish 
music  band  to  play  for  him,  so  that  he  would  not  hear  the  cries 
and  the  groans  of  the  dying.  Then  the  powers  of  Europe  awoke 
and  there  was  to  be  an  investigation.  But  alas  for  the 
role  played  by  the  Christian  powers!  The  English  defended 
the  Druses,  the  nefarious  murderers,  and  since  the  powers  of 
Europe  had  their  interests  here  and  there,  they  let  this  matter 
pass.  The  Sultan  was  polite  enough  to  promise  a  fair  investi¬ 
gation,  and  to  exact  proper  retribution,  but  all  he  did  was  to 
hang  Achmed  Pascha  in  Damascus.  The  others  were  left  un¬ 
punished. 

I  passed  over  the  battlefields  of  the  Maronites  and  the 
Druses,  where  so  much  human  blood  has  soaked  the  earth. 
And  this  has  been  done  in  these  mountains,  the  emblem  of 
beauty  and  youth.  With  the  exception  of  us  two,  Mr.  Fisher 
and  myself,  there  were  only  Mohammedans  in  the  car  where  we 
were  sitting.  Some  were  well  dressed,  and  were  very  gentle¬ 
manly  in  their  behavior.  I  remember  particularly  one  man, 
dressed  in  a  black  gown  with  a  white  cap  on  his  head.  He  was 
very  polite  and  kind.  I  suppose  that  he  was  a  priest.  I  met 
this  man  in  the  hotel  at  Damascus,  where  many  other  Moham¬ 
medans  were  with  him.  But  I  did  not  pay  so  much  attention 
to  the  people  on  the  train  as  I  did  to  the  scenery  outside  and 
around  us.  Lebanon  means  the  white  mountain  and  the  reason 
for  the  name  is  this ;  that  white  lime  stones  are  jutting  out  from 
its  sides.  It  might  also  be  called  the  white  mounain  from  the 

[159] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


fact  that  it  is  white  with  snow,  for  seven  months  of  the  year, 
in  certain  places. 

In  ancient  times  the  Hivites  were  living  here.  In  the  time 
of  Solomon,  Lebanon,  as  it  seems,  was  under  the  dominion  of 
Hiram,  the  king  of  Tyre,  because  it  was  this  king  that 
furnished  cedar  trees  for  the  Solomonic  temple  in  Jerusalem. 
It  would  seem  from  other  parts  for  the  Scripture,  that  Lebanon 
belonged  to  Solomon,  at  least  in  part,  because  he  built  a  house 
here.  (I  Kings  9:  16;  II  Chron.  8:6.)  When  the  temple  was 
built  in  Jerusalem,  during  the  time  of  Ezra,  cedar  trees  were 
brought  from  Lebanon  to  Jaffa  for  this  purpose  as  we  see  in 
Ezra  3 :  7. 

When  the  psalmist  describes  the  life  of  the  righteous,  he 
says,  ‘  ‘  The  righteous  shall  flourish  like  the  palm  tree :  he  shall 
grow  like  a  cedar  on  Lebanon.”  (Ps.  92:  12.)  Well,  here  I 
saw,  how  the  cedar  trees  grew,  and  it  was  a  pleasure  to  behold 
how  they  flourished  even  in  this  dry  fall  month.  It  is  a  true 
emblem  of  the  godfearing  soul.  But  we  do  not  need  to  go  to 
the  top  of  Lebanon  to  see  the  truth  of  the  psalmist’s  word. 
You  will  see  it  everywhere  in  the  Christian  world,  where  souls 
live  in  communion  with  God. 

But  let  us  now  follow  our  train  down  the  eastern  slope  of 
Lebanon.  As  we  do  so,  we  pass  through  several  tunnels. 
When  we  come  to  the  station  El-Mredjat,  we  have  a  most 
excellent  view  of  Coelosyria,  and  on  the  other  side  we  see  the 
Antilebanon  range  in  majestic  grandeur.  It  runs  parallel  with 
Lebanon.  From  this  place  you  can  see  Hermon  to  the  south¬ 
east  (Djebel  esh-Scheik).  This  mountain  is  about  9,000  feet 
high,  and  an  eternal  snow  covers  some  of  the  peaks.  Our  train 
winds  down  the  eastern  side  of  the  mountain,  and  we  are  soon 
at  Muallaka,  a  large  Mohammedan  village.  It  is  the  principal 
village  in  Coelosyria.  Not  far  from  this  village  is  the  beautiful 


[160] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


town  of  Sahle  with  about  15,000  inhabitants,  of  whom  the  most 
are  Grecian  Christians.  Here  is  a  Protestant  school,  which 
belongs  to  the  church  of  England.  During  the  massacre  in  this 
village  in  1860  all  men  were  killed,  but  the  women  were  nobly 
protected  from  the  attacks  of  the  Kurds.  This  is  a  splendid 
trait  with  the  Druses  that  they  show  regard  for  the  women. 
Prom  the  town  of  Sahle  runs  a  river,  Burduni,  down  the  val¬ 
ley  to  the  station,  and  on  the  plain  near  by  it  unites  with  the 
Leontes,  the  Nahr  Litani  of  the  ancient  world.  The  springs  of 
this  river  are  found  to  be  quite  near  Baalbek  and  run  south¬ 
ward  through  the  valley.  Not  far  to  the  north  of  the  city 
another  river  has  its  fountain.  It  is  the  river  Orontes.  The 
highest  point  in  this  valley  is  consequently  here  near  Baalbek. 
We  are  now  on  the  plain  which  extends  between  these  moun¬ 
tains.  It  is  a  very  rich  plain  and  great  harvests  are  gathered 
here.  We  see  fields  along  the  railroad  where  the  cattle  are  now 
grazing.  It  is  a  very  picturesque  plain.  In  the  springtime  it 
must  be  a  veritable  paradise. 

The  plain  here  is  about  3,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 
This  plateau  is  not  very  thickly  populated,  but  as  you  go  along, 
you  see  villages  here  and  there,  and  from  the  appearance  of 
the  huts  you  get  the  impression  that  poverty  rules  supreme. 

Soon  we  are  at  Baalbek,  the  city  of  the  sun-god,  the  old 
Heliopolis.  I  had  read  a  great  deal  about  the  enormous  ruins 
at  this  place,  but  I  had  no  idea  that  they  were  so  immense. 

Is  this  city  spoken  of  in  the  Bible?  Some  have  supposed 
that  Baal-Gad,  spoken  of  in  Joshua  11:  17  has  reference  to  the 
city  of  Baalbek,  but  the  addenda,  “at  the  foot  of  Hermon” 
shows  conclusively,  that  this  has  reference  to  Banias.  Others 
have  thought,  that  Baalat,  mentioned  in  I  Kings  9 :  17-19  refers 
to  Baalbek. 


[161] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


This  statement  is  quite  confusing,  because  Tadmor  is  here 
put  together  with  Baalat,  and  then  it  is  united  with  Gezer, 
which  was  located  in  the  land  of  the  Philistines.  Flavius 
Josephus  informs  us  that  Baalat  was  located  not  very  far  from 
Gezer.  We  believe  that  the  passage  in  Amos  1:  5,  where  the 
prophet  speaks  of  Aven,  has  reference  to  Baalbek.  In  this 
Scripture  passage  we  read,  “I  will  break  also  the  bars  of 
Damascus  and  call  off  the  inhabitants  from  the  plain  of  Aven, 
and  him  that  holdeth  the  scepter  from  the  house  of  Beth-Eden : 
and  the  people  of  Syria  shall  go  into  captivity,  unto  Kir,  saith 
the  Lord.” 

Now  Amos  was  born  in  Judea,  but  prophesied  in  Israel, 
and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose,  that  he  here  uses  the  name  Aven 
to  signify  Baalbek,  because  the  name  Aven  signifies  idolatry, 
sin,  and  even  jealousy.  He  spoke  of  Aven  and  compares  it  to 
Damascus,  and  says  that  it  was  located  in  a  valley.  Coelosyria 
is  also  called  valley  (Buka),  and  it  is  quite  clear  that  he  points 
to  Baalbek.  Syria  was  the  home  of  the  sun-god  and  its  chief 
seat  was  Baalbek.  Because  of  this,  Amos  called  this  valley  the 
valley  of  idolatry  and  declared,  that  God’s  judgment  shall 
come  upon  it. 

We  do  not  find  absolutely  reliable  testimony  about  Baal¬ 
bek,  until  we  come  a  little  before  the  birth  of  Christ.  Then  it 
is  called  Heliopolis,  the  city  of  the  Sun.  Josephus  tells  us, 
that  General  Pompey  on  his  march  to  Damascus  went  to 
Heliopolis  and  Chalcis.  (Jos.  Ant.  14:  3:  2).  Ptolemaeus  desig¬ 
nates  Baalbek  as  one  of  the  cities  in  Coelosyria  and  Pliny  says 
that  it  was  located  at  the  fountain  of  the  river  Orontes.  Some 
other  authors  mention  this  city  at  that  time. 

Regarding  its  history,  a  great  deal  of  information  has  been 
received  from  inscriptions  of  the  ruins  of  Baalbek  and  from 
the  coins  of  that  time.  The  city  is  called  Heliopolis  on  coins 

[162] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


that  were  made  in  the  time  of  Nerva  (98  A.  D.)  and  Hadrian 
(138  A.  D.)  On  the  earlier  coin  there  is  no  temple,  but  on  the 
later,  made  in  the  time  of  Septimus  Severus  (211),  a  temple  is 
portrayed  with  ten  pillars,  and  this  corresponds  with  the  tem¬ 
ple  at  Baalbek.  Because  of  this  some  have  drawn  the  con¬ 
clusion,  that  the  great  temple  in  Baalbek  was  built  during  the 
reign  of  Septimus  Severus.  There  are  a  good  many  indica¬ 
tions,  however,  that  the  temple  in  Baalbek  was  built  by  the 
early  emperors  of  Rome. 

But  now  a  few  words  as  to  the  sights  in  this  city.  Indeed, 
the  ruins  are  so  great,  that  they  surpass  description.  Here  we 
observe  first  of  all  the  great  subterranean  vaults,  the  gigantic 
walls  around  the  temple,  the  hexagon  court,  a  square  court, 
and  then  the  temple  proper,  or  as  it  is  called,  the  temple  of  the 
sun.  There  is,  a  little  to  the  south  of  this  temple,  a  smaller  one, 
called  the  temple  of  Jupiter,  and  it  is  much  better  kept  than  the 
large  temple. 

Now  as  to  the  subterranean  vaults  we  must  say  that  they 
are  really  masterpieces  in  themselves.  They  are  built  of  very 
large  stones  and  if  we  were  not  in  Baalbek,  we  would  say  that 
they  are  gigantic.  We  went  through  these  vaults;  and  you  are 
simply  struck  with  amazement,  when  you  walk  through  them. 
The  walls  around  the  temple  are  also  very  large.  It  is  surpris¬ 
ing  to  see  these  large  blocks  of  stones,  one  on  top  of  the  other, 
resting  on  the  wall.  The  stones  on  the  north  side  of  the  sun 
temple  are  the  largest.  Nine  of  these  stones  are  each  31  feet 
long,  13  feet  thick,  and  9  and  a  half  feet  wide.  The  stones  in 
the  western  wall  are  still  larger.  The  largest  stone  is  64  feet 
long,  13  feet  thick  and  13  feet  wide.  You  will  get  an  idea  of 
what  this  temple  has  been  once  upon  a  time,  when  you  con¬ 
sider  the  dimensions.  The  temple  is  nine  hundred  feet  long 
with  the  courts.  The  temple  proper  is  two  hundred  and  eiglity- 

[163] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


seven  feet  long,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight  feet  wide.  A 
high  wall  surrounded  the  whole  temple  and  on  the  inner  side  of 
this  wall  was  the  real  temple,  surrounded  by  fifty-four  pillars, 
which  were  sixty-two  feet  high.  I  measured  one  of  these 
beautifully  hewn  pillars  and  the  circumference  was  twenty-one 
feet.  Of  these  pillars  there  were  only  six  left  on  the  west  side 
and  three  partly  broken  on  the  east  side.  A  part  of  the  pin¬ 
nacle  of  these  pillars,  which  formerly  covered  them  all,  is 
fourteen  feet  high,  and  is  still  found  on  these  six  pillars.  These 
pillars  were  hewn  in  Corinthian  style.  The  tourist  is  simply 
struck  with  amazement,  as  he  stands  among  them.  These  pil¬ 
lars,  and  we  might  say,  everything  that  was  used  in  this  temple, 
was  made  of  a  yellowish  stone.  The  entrance  of  the  temple  is 
on  the  east  side.  Now  there  is  no  stair  any  more  in  front. 
This  has  been  taken  away  a  long  time  ago.  The  stair  must 
have  been  very  high.  From  the  stair  you  enter  into  the  large 
hall  or  inclosure,  at  the  eastern  end  of  which  there  were  ten 
pillars.  They  are  all  gone.  Nothing  is  now  left  of  them. 
Only  the  foundations  show  where  they  have  stood.  On  two  of 
these  pedestals  were  Latin  inscriptions,  which  are  not  legible 
any  more.  They  were  copied  in  1751  and  in  this  way  they  have 
been  spared  for  posterity.  Both  these  inscriptions  are  prayers 
to  the  great  gods  in  Heliopolis  that  they  might  protect  the 
Emperor  Antonius  Caracalla  (217),  the  son  of  Septimus 
Severus  and  his  mother,  the  Empress  Domna.  From  these 
prayers  we  learn  that  this  temple  has  been  a  pantheon.  The 
sun  was  the  principal  god  in  Syria,  and  because  of  this  the 
temple  received  the  name  Sun  temple.  Now  because  of  the 
above  mentioned  inscription  some  have  believed  that  Antonius 
Pius  built  the  little  temple  and  Septimus  Severus  the  larger. 

A  certain  author  by  the  name  of  John  Malala  from 
Antioch,  who  lived  in  the  seventh  century,  informs  us  that 

[  164  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Antonius  Pins  (161)  built  in  Heliopolis  by  Lebanon  a  temple 
to  the  honor  of  Jupiter,  one  of  the  greatest  wonders  of  the 
world. 

Let  us  now  continue  our  wandering  in  the  temple.  From 
the  directions  above  mentioned  we  come  through  a  gate  into  a 
court,  which  is  in  the  form  of  a  hexagon.  From  here  we  come 
into  another  court,  where  the  altar  is  located.  This  court  is 
390  feet  long  and  330  feet  wide.  Even  this  court  was  sur¬ 
rounded  by  a  row  of  pillars,  which  are  now  broken  to  pieces. 
Broken  pillars  are  found  all  along  the  walls.  Within  the  court 
is  found  a  certain  so-called  basilica,  of  which  parts  only  are 
left.  This  basilica  dates  from  the  earlier  centuries  of  the 
Christian  church.  Within  this  basilica  is  a  large  altar  for 
sacrifices  and  it  is  a  very  large  one  indeed.  Here  the  animals 
were  sacrificed  to  the  glory  of  the  gods.  On  both  sides  of  this 
basilica  are  dams  for  fishes.  From  this  basilica  is  the  entrance 
to  the  temple  proper,  the  Sun  temple. 

Having  wandered  about  this  wonderful  ruin,  we  went  to 
see  the  Jupiter  temple,  which  is  quite  near  the  Sun  temple. 
This  temple  is  called  the  smaller,  but  it  is  not  so  small.  It 
measures  222x120  feet.  The  building  within  the  pillars  is 
155x84,  and  there  is  only  one  entrance,  which  is  quite  well  pre¬ 
served.  This  building  has  no  roof  and  has,  perhaps,  never 
had  any.  In  this  building,  which  is  also  called  the  Baccus  tem¬ 
ple,  is  a  picture  of  the  German  Emperor  on  the  wall,  and  an 
inscription  shows  that  he  made  excavations  here  in  1900-1903. 
These  excavations  made  it  possible  for  the  tourist  to  get  an 
idea  of  these  ruins.  The  Emperor  himself  visited  these  ruins 
in  1898. 

When  we  went  out  of  the  building,  we  noticed  the  beautiful 
work  on  the  stones  in  the  gate  posts.  Here  you  find  hewn  out 
in  stone  the  most  beautiful  grapes,  heads  of  grain,  and  statues 

[165] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


of  men  and  women.  But  the  nudity  is  very  offending.  While 
I  walked  around  in  this  ruin,  an  immense  monument  from  a 
heroic  age,  I  thought  of  the  changes  that  have  taken  place  at 
this  city  and  in  this  valley.  When  the  temple  was  in  use  and 
thousands  worshipped  therein,  how  different  this  valley  looked ! 
But  now  there  is  ruin  and  desolation  everywhere.  And  what 
changes  from  a  religious  point  of  view !  In  brief,  the  story  is 
as  follows : 

Even  in  this  stronghold  of  heathenism,  Christianity  became 
victorious,  although  it  was  slow  work.  Constantine  the  Great 
built  a  very  large  church,  and  here  was  a  seat  for  a  bishop. 
Some  believe  that  Constantine  rebuilt  this  temple  into  a 
Christian  church.  Not  far  from  this  there  is  a  ruin  of  a  large 
building,  and  that  ruin  may  possibly  be  the  church  of  Con¬ 
stantine.  During  the  Diocletian  persecution  the  Christians 
suffered  a  great  deal  here,  and  even  during  the  reign  of  Julian 
the  Apostate,  the  heathens  attacked  the  Christians  and  fearful 
acts  were  committed  against  the  women,  who  had  been  dedi¬ 
cated  to  the  Lord’s  service  here  in  Baalbek. 

The  Arabs  took  Syria  in  636  and  the  whole  country  fell  under 
the  rule  of  the  Crescent.  For  three  hundred  years  we  hear 
nothing  of  this  place  and  when  it  again  appears  in  history,  it  is 
called  Baalbek.  The  Arabs  changed  the  temple  of  the  Sun  into 
a  fort.  Earthquakes  have  time  and  again  damaged  this  build¬ 
ing,  and  yet  it  has  stood  the  gnawing  of  the  tooth  of  time  in  a 
most  wonderful  way. 

But  we  must  now  leave  this  mass  of  ruins,  although  I 
would  have  liked  to  stay  here  for  days  to  study  them.  As  we 
returned,  we  saw  a  Venus  temple  not  far  from  the  old  Sun 
temple.  It  had  been  excavated  lately. 

As  we  come  out  on  the  street,  we  are  met  by  a  crowd  of 
half  naked  and  dirty  children,  who  held  out  their  hands  and 


[  166  J 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 

cried  out,  “Bakschisch,  ja,  chawadje,  ana  bakschisch,  ”  (A 
present,  Mister,  give  a  present).  We  looked  at  them  and 
stretching  out  our  hands,  said  in  return,  “Atheni  bakschisch.” 
The  poor  children  laughed  and  turned  away. 

About  two-thirds  of  a  mile  from  the  temple  is  the  stone 
quarry,  whence  the  stones  were  taken  for  these  buildings  and 
walls.  I  went  to  the  quarry  and  saw  an  enormous  stone,  which 
has  been  cut  loose  from  the  mountain.  One  end  of  it  was  raised 
a  little.  I  measured  the  stone,  and  it  was  69  feet  long,  15  feet 
wide  and  17  feet  thick  and  weighed  about  11,000  tons.  They 
have  figured  out,  that  it  would  require  40,000  men  to  move  it. 

Having  seen  this  huge  stone,  we  went  to  the  station. 
There  were  three  in  the  company,  Mr.  Fisher,  an  Arab,  whom 
we  had  engaged  as  a  guide,  and  myself.  When  we  came  to  the 
station,  there  arose  quite  a  dispute  between  our  guide  and  the 
boy  whom  he  had  engaged  to  take  care  of  our  baggage  at  the 
station.  They  quarreled  as  only  Arabs  can  quarrel  and  the  fire 
of  wrath  was  burning  in  their  eyes.  The  boy,  who  watched 
our  baggage,  received  only  a  few  piasters,  and  our  guide  took, 
of  course,  the  greater  part  of  the  sum,  which  we  had  agreed  to 
pay  him  for  the  whole  work.  Mr.  Fisher  said,  that  they  did 
this  for  a  purpose,  so  as  to  make  us  give  the  boy  a  lot  of 
bakschisch.  They  are  rascals,  these  Beduins,  and  you  cannot 
depend  on  them. 

There  is  our  train  coming  forth  between  the  trees  and 
houses  beyond  Baalbek.  It  was  late.  We  had  to  bid  farewell 
to  the  ruins  in  this  very  interesting  place.  Think  of  the  won¬ 
derful  temple  built  here  so  long  ago,  and  think  of  the  ruins, 
now  for  every  year  sinking  deeper  into  the  ground.  All  this 
is  something  for  us  frail  beings  to  observe  and  take  notice  of. 
For  like  these  masterpieces  of  the  ancient  world  we  too  are 
destined  to  crumble  and  go  down  into  the  ground.  Let  us  not 


[167] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


forget  that  the  people  who  built  this  temple  were  a  most  intelli¬ 
gent  people  and  because  of  this  they  were  able  to  put  up  such 
a  structure.  But  a  study  of  these  ruins  makes  it  clear  that 
intelligence  alone  does  not  avail ;  we  need  something  more  than 
that.  We  need  the  preserving  salt,  which  is  found  in  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  the  Man  from  Nazareth. 

These  thoughts  occupied  my  mind,  as  our  train  was  run¬ 
ning  back  to  Rajjak.  Here  we  had  only  time  to  change  trains 
and  go  on  to  Damascus.  We  did  not  even  have  time  to  take 
our  supper.  As  I  was  about  to  board  the  train,  a  group  of  boys 
came  and  took  hold  of  my  baggage,  and  it  actually  began  to 
appear  as  though  the  baggage  belonged  to  them  and  not  to  me. 
I  had  to  get  hold  of  a  stick  and  chase  these  boys  away,  because 
of  their  persistency.  We  now  went  up  to  the  top  of  the 
Antilebanon  in  a  clear  moonshine,  as  beautiful  as  I  ever  saw. 
It  did  not  take  us  long  before  we  reached  the  city  at  the  foot  of 
the  Antilebanon,  the  ancient  city  of  Damascus.  It  was  11 
o’clock  in  the  evening  when  we  came  to  the  station  in  Damas¬ 
cus. 

Damascus  is  located  at  the  foot  of  the  Antilebanon 
mountain  range,  on  the  Abana  river.  This  river  is  now  called 
Barada.  It  starts  high  up  in  the  Antilebanon  mountains,  flows 
down  through  this  city  and  is  lost  in  the  sand  on  the  plain  of 
Damascus  to  the  southeast.  In  the  city  the  river  is  mostly 
covered  over  and  you  can  see  it  only  here  and  there.  It  is 
taken  into  houses,  fountains,  and  you  see  water  bubbling 
everywhere. 

Another  river,  which  is  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  is  called 
Parphar,  or  by  its  present  name,  Awai.  It  flows  down  the  Her- 
mon  mountain  into  the  eastern  plain  and  in  ditches  it  sends  its 
waters  to  the  gates  of  Damascus.  Around  Damascus  there  are 
numerous  orchards  and  plantations,  and  when  you  look  down 

[  168  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


from  the  hillsides  of  Antilebanon,  the  whole  city  resembles  a 
huge  plantation.  The  only  difference  is  that  you  see,  here  and 
there  in  between  the  trees,  the  minarets  of  the  mosques.  You 
find  fruits  and  vegetables  of  nearly  all  kinds  in  this  most  excel¬ 
lent  soil. 

Historically  Damascus  has  had  a  prominent  place.  It  is 
mentioned  in  Genesis  14 :  15,  in  connection  with  the  expedition 
of  Abraham,  who  pursued  Chedorlaomer,  overtook  him,  con¬ 
quered  him  at  Hoba,  north  of  here,  and  brought  back  his 
nephew  Lot.  From  Damascus  came  Eliezer,  the  servant  of 
Abraham.  (Gen.  15:  2).  During  the  time  of  David  this  city 
is  spoken  of  again.  In  the  war  against  Hadarezer  David  was 
victorious  over  the  Arameans  in  Damascus,  and  made  them  pay 
tribute.  (II  Sam.  8:  5-6).  Rezon  became  a  leader  of  a  band, 
and  they  made  him  king  of  Damascus.  During  the  reign  of 
the  son  of  Benhadad  I  and  his  successor  Benhadad  II  (920-890), 
Damascus  and  Syria  rose  into  prominence. 

After  the  battle  of  Issus  333  B.  C.  the  city  fell  into  the 
hands  of  one  of  the  generals  of  Alexander,  the  Great  Parmenas. 
Then  again,  when  the  kingdom  of  Alexander  was  divided  into 
four  parts,  Seleucus  Nicator  ruled  over  Syria  with  Damascus 
as  capital  city.  Since  85  B.  C.  the  Arabs  have  ruled  over 
this  city,  and  hence  it  was  that  Aretas,  King  of  Petra,  also  ruled 
over  it.  About  65  A.  D.  the  city  came  under  the  Roman  govern¬ 
ment,  but  it  was  not  until  105  A.  D.  that  Syria,  through  the 
Emperor  Trajan,  became  a  Roman  province. 

When  King  Herod  ruled  over  Coelosyria,  he  built  a  theatre 
in  Damascus,  a  bathhouse,  and  several  other  public  buildings. 
A  great  number  of  Jews  now  moved  into  this  city,  and  it  is 
claimed  that  Nero  killed  10,000  Jews  in  this  place. 

Christianity  came  quite  early  to  this  center.  We  read  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  that  Paul,  having  been  present  at  the 


[169] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


stoning  of  Stephen,  went  to  Damascus  to  hunt  up  the  Christians 
in  that  city,  and  bring  them  captive  to  Jerusalem.  These  events 
are  supposed  to  have  taken  place  about  37  A.  D.  It  was  early 
in  the  first  century  that  Christianity  was  preached  in  Damascus. 
Paul  had  found,  outside  of  the  gates  of  Damascus,  him  who  made 
all  things  new  for  him  and  made  him  a  new  man  with  new 
aspirations.  Having  been  converted  and  received  into  the  com¬ 
munion  of  the  Christians  in  Damascus,  he  began  to  preach  this 
new  doctrine.  Now  he  went  for  some  time  into  Arabia,  but 
returned  soon  and  tried  to  convince  the  Jews  and  Gentiles  also 
that  Jesus  was  the  promised  Messiah.  Here  he  remained  for 
three  years.  (Gal.  1:  17-18).  Toward  the  end  of  these  three 
years  King  Aretas  was  the  ruler  over  Damascus.  This  king’s 
daughter  was  married  to  Herod  Antipas,  who  ruled  over  Galilee 
and  Perea.  When  Antipas  was  banished  in  39  A.  D.,  it  is  be¬ 
lieved  that  Emperor  Caligula  in  Rome  gave  Damascus  to  Aretas 
as  a  present. 

Now  the  governor  in  that  city  sought  to  please  the  Jews, 
and  put  guards  at  the  gates  so  as  to  get  hold  of  Paul.  Then  it 
was  that  Paul  was  let  down  over  the  wall  in  a  basket. 

Very  early  in  the  first  century  there  was  a  bishop’s  seat  in 
this  city,  and  the  bishop  was  a  metropolitan,  who  with  his  sub¬ 
ordinate  bishops  was  present  at  the  meeting  of  Nice  in  325. 
During  the  reign  of  Emperor  Arcadius  (395-408)  a  heathen 
temple  wTas  changed  into  a  Christian  church,  which  had  the 
name  of  John  the  Baptist,  and  it  is  claimed  that  his  head  was 
kept  in  that  church.  In  this  city  lived  a  prominent  teacher  in 
the  church,  John  of  Damascus.  He  died  in  the  convent  of  Mar- 
Saba,  in  Judea,  760.  His  book  on  “The  Proper  Development 
of  Faith,”  still  has  a  great  value  in  the  Greek  church. 

In  634  Damascus  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Mohammedans, 
and  has  ever  since  been  under  their  iron  rule.  The  Califs  ruled 

[170] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


here  from  661  A.  D.  to  750  A.  D.,  and  when  they  moved  to 
Bagdad,  where  they  ruled  to  the  end  of  the  Califate,  1258,  the 
city  lost  a  great  deal  of  its  prestige.  Then  the  Sultan  Saladin 
ruled  here  from  1174  to  1193,  when  he  died.  His  grave  is  still 
shown  near  the  great  mosque.  The  Mongolian  chief  Timar,  who 
because  he  was  lame  received  the  nickname  Lenk,  from  which 
name  the  Europeans  made  the  word  Timurlane,  came  through 
these  regions  as  a  storm,  and  captured  Damascus  in  1401.  He 
killed  all  the  Christians  with  the  exception  of  one  family,  whose 
descendants  are  said  to  have  lived  as  late  as  1855.  Damascus 
was  captured  by  the  Sultan  Selim  I  and  has  been  under  the 
Turkish  rule  ever  since,  with  the  exception  of  the  years  between 
1832-1840.  During  that  time  the  most  terrible  rebellion  and 
massacres  took  place  here.  A  writer  says  regarding  Damascus 
in  these  terrible  times:  “The  Christians  in  Damascus  lived 
under  great  depression.  It  was  dangerous  to  be  rich,  and  still 
more  dangerous  to  show  the  riches.  The  tourist  must  find  him¬ 
self  in  a  most  humiliating  condition;  he  must  not  show  himself 
in  a  European  dress.  He  was  not  permitted  to  ride  through 
the  city,  but  must  get  off  the  horse  at  the  gate  and  lead  it,  and 
besides,  lay  aside  his  weapon.  He  was  altogether  in  the  hands 
of  Pascha,  because  no  European  government  had  permission  to 
keep  a  consul  here.”  Such  were  the  conditions  here  in  the 
“good  old  time.”  Now  the  conditions  are  very  much  better. 
The  city  has  not  grown  to  any  extent  during  the  last  decades, 
because  merchandise  is  not  now  carried  as  formerly,  but  passes 
through  the  Suez  Canal.  There  are  now  in  this  city  only  200,000 
inhabitants,  of  whom  20,000  are  Christians.  Before  the  massacre 
in  1860  the  number  of  Christians  was  30,000. 

But  now  let  us  relate  some  of  our  observations  here.  The 
13th  of  September  I  awoke  quite  early  and  went  out  to  see  the 
town.  In  the  forenoon  we  went  to  the  outskirts  at  the  foothills 


[171] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


of  the  Antilebanon  Mountains.  Here  we  had  a  very  good  view 
of  the  city.  It  has  been  claimed  that  Damascus  is  the  oldest  city 
in  the  world,  yet  while  Memphis,  Thebes,  Nineveh  and  Babylon 
have  rested  for  thousands  of  years  under  the  dust  of  bygone 
ages,  Damascus  still  stands  and  prospers  here  on  this  fruitful 
plain  by  the  Antilebanon. 

We  were  walking  around  in  the  forenoon,  so  we  became 
quite  tired,  and  returned  to  the  hotel  for  dinner.  I  secured  a 
guide  to  lead  us  throughout  the  city  in  the  afternoon,  and  to 
show  us  the  interesting  places.  This  man  was  a  good  Catholic 
and  spoke  Arabic,  French  and  Greek.  We  went  first  of  all  to 
the  bazaars.  On  the  way  to  them  we  saw  the  tree  which  the 
Mohammedans  claim  to  have  planted  when  they  captured  the 
city.  It  is  quite  hollow  and  has  seen  its  best  days. 

The  bazaars  are  really  covered  streets,  along  which  the 
merchants  have  their  stores.  Here  you  have  a  chance  to  see 
how  they  make  the  things  that  are  offered  for  sale  in  the  stores. 
Here  you  see  the  shoemaker,  who  works  away  making  his  shoes 
or  his  sandals ;  there  is  the  tailor  or  the  saddle-maker,  and  further 
on  you  see  the  carpenter  and  the  tinsmith,  etc.  The  streets  in 
these  bazaars  are  not  paved,  of  course.  The  roofs  over  these 
streets,  which  are  quite  high,  make  these  bazaars  look  very  dark 
and  gloomy  within.  The  streets  are  dirty  and  crooked  There 
are  no  blocks,  as  we  have  had  occasion  to  mention  before  in 
regard  to  the  city  of  Constantinople.  The  Oriental  cities  are 
very  much  the  same  everywhere.  We  went  around  in  these 
bazaars  and  observed  how  business  was  being  carried  on  here. 
Mr.  Fisher  bought  a  few  things  for  his  mother,  and  here  I  found 
that  the  merchant  gave  a  liberal  rebate.  They  do  not  expect  to 
be  able  to  sell  the  goods  for  the  price  for  which  they  offer  it  at 
first.  I  bought  a  few  things  for  the  folks  at  home,  and  then  we 
continued  our  journey  on  these  crooked  streets. 

[172] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Here  a  man  moves  along  the  streets  with  a  basket  of  bread 
carried  on  his  back  or  in  front  of  him,  as  the  case  may  be,  and 
calls  for  customers;  there  another  walks  along  with  a  different 
kind  of  bread  and  calls  out  loudly:  “Ragif,  ja,  schubab. ”  (A 
bread,  ye  young.)  Here  a  man  moves  along  with  a  can  of  soft 
drinks  at  his  side ;  there  is  another  who  sells  water,  cooled  in 
snow  from  Hermon,  and  while  he  loafs  about,  he  strikes  his 
drinking  cups  together,  so  as  to  attract  attention.  At  the  res¬ 
taurants  there  are  a  lot  of  soft  drinks  to  be  gotten.  “Ja,  halim” 
(gracious  God),  the  milkman  calls  out,  and  the  fruit  seller  says, 
“Balak  snunak”  (Take  care  of  your  teeth)  ;  and  it  is  surely 
necessary  to  do  that,  because  the  fruit  that  he  sells  is  everything 
but  clean.  It  is  a  picture  to  see  all  this,  and  he  who  has  seen  it 
will  never  forget  it. 

From  the  bazaar  we  go  to  the  great  mosque,  or,  as  it  is 
called,  Omajjed  mosque.  It  is  located  almost  in  the  middle  of 
the  city.  We  went  into  the  mosque,  of  course,  and  up  in  the 
minaret  to  see  the  town  from  this  elevation ;  and  truly  there  is  a 
sight  to  be  seen  from  this  place.  At  the  door  we  must  put  on  the 
sandals,  of  course,  and  the  colored  woman  who  sits  there  to  put 
them  on  does  it  with  a  mien  as  important  as  if  she  would  be  a 
queen.  Then  we  went  up  into  the  minaret.  It  was  quite  a  dis¬ 
tance  up  there,  and  I  became  tired  before  we  came  to  the  top 
story.  While  we  stood  there,  a  muezzin  came  up  and  called 
out  the  hour  of  prayer.  This  they  usually  do  five  times  a  day. 
In  a  singsong  tone  the  following  words  are  spoken:  “  Allah  u 
akbar  (four  times)  ;  ashadu  an  lailaha  illallah  (twice)  ;  ashadu 
anna  Muhammedar-rasullu  ’llah  (twice)  ;  heiya  ’ala’s-salah 
(twice)  ;  heya  ala’lfelah  (twice)  ;  Allahu  akbar  (twice)  ;  la  illaha 
ilia  allah.”  This  means:  “Alla  is  greatest;  I  testify,  that  there 
is  no  God  but  Allah ;  I  testify,  that  Mohammed  is  the  apostle  of 
Allah ;  come  to  prayer,  come  to  salvation ;  Allah  is  greatest ; 

[173] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


there  is  no  God  but  Allah.”  During  the  quiet  watches  of  the 
night  you  hear  these  words  resounding  again  and  again;  and 
those  who  are  awake  go  up  and  worship  Allah.  While  we 
attentively  looked  over  the  city,  I  heard  from  a  minaret  near  by 
a  number  of  children  sing  a  song  to  Allah.  It  was  a  monotonous 
song,  but  I  had  not  then  for  some  time  heard  the  children  sing, 
and  I  must  confess  that  the  children’s  song  was  refreshing  to  me. 
Then  we  went  down.  On  the  floor  we  found  very  beautiful  car¬ 
pets.  Truly  the  Mohammedans  know  how  to  sacrifice  for  their 
religion.  It  does  not  seem  to  be  necessary  to  urge  them  so  much, 
either,  as  is  the  case  with  many  a  Christian. 

In  this  connection  I  am  thinking  of  that  group  of  deacons 
who  came  together  to  find  out  whether  they  should  advise  to 
build  a  new  church  or  fix  up  the  old  one.  One  deacon  said: 
“I  will  give  so  much  towards  the  repairing  of  the  old  church.” 
Just  then  a  piece  of  plastering  fell  down  from  the  roof  and 
hit  him  in  the  head.  Then  he  thought  of  his  promise  and  saw 
that  the  church  was  in  a  dilapidated  condition,  and  promised 
to  give  some  more  for  the  same  purpose.  Then  another  deacon 
said :  ‘  ‘  0  Lord,  hit  him  again.  ’  ’  It  does  not  seem  to  be  necessary  to 
urge  the  Mohammedans  so  very  much,  as  we  must  urge  some  of 
our  Christians. 

With  sandals  on  our  shoes  we  walk  around  in  this  magnificent 
building.  Here  and  there  on  the  fine  rugs  we  see  the  Mohamme¬ 
dans  reading  their  Koran,  and  while  they  are  reading  they  sway 
the  body  back  and  forth  and  sing  the  text  in  a  monotonous  tone. 
They  are  not  disturbed  by  us  as  we  walk  along  the  floor.  At  the 
door  we  saw  a  good  many  asleep  on  the  ground.  I  asked  the 
guide  whether  it  was  permitted  to  do  so  always,  and  he  said 
that  the  poor  and  needy  who  have  no  home  and  hearth  of  their 
own  are  allowed  to  go  into  the  mosque  and  rest  on  the  floor.  As 
they  were  sleeping  there,  I  saw  these  poor  people  disturbed  by 

[174] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


vermin,  and  chasing  them  from  place  to  place  to  better  pastures. 
Poor  people !  But  this  is  not  the  most  wretched  place  to  sleep  in, 
on  these  beautiful  carpets. 

I  also  observed,  when  the  hour  of  prayer  came,  that  the 
sexton  went  to  them  with  a  stick  in  his  hand  and  roused  them, 
telling  them  to  get  up  and  worship  Allah.  When  I  saw  this  I 
reminded  myself  of  a  certain  custom  in  some  of  the  churches 
in  Europe  in  former  times.  There  the  sexton  went  around  in 
the  church  with  a  stick  in  his  hand  and  awakened  them,  if  they 
fell  asleep  during  the  sermon.  They  still  have  such  sextons 
among  the  Mohammedans,  as  it  seems. 

This  mosque  of  Omajjed  is  considered  to  be  the  most  holy 
in  the  Mohammedan  world,  with  the  exception  of  the  mosque 
in  Mecca,  Medina  and  the  Omar  mosque  in  Jerusalem.  On  the 
middle  of  the  floor  is  a  grave.  It  is  said  that  the  head  of  John 
the  Baptist  is  found  in  that  tomb.  Let  us  recall  that  this  mosque 
was  a  Christian  church  until  the  Arabs  came  and  conquered 
the  city.  And  yet  it  is  not  the  present  mosque.  The  old  mosque 
was  burnt  down  recently,  because  of  a  careless  workman  who 
fixed  the  roof  of  the  mosque,  the  14th  of  October,  1893.  Then 
the  roof  caught  fire  and  the  building  was  laid  in  ashes.  The 
new  mosque  has  three  minarets  and  open  places  on  three  sides, 
where  porticoes  are  built.  In  the  middle  of  the  open  space  on 
the  north  side  is  a  flowing  well.  Religious  ablutions  are  per¬ 
formed  at  this  well.  The  Mohammedans  have  a  custom  to  bathe 
before  they  perform  their  religious  exercises. 

Tired  because  of  the  constant  wanderings  in  the  building, 
and  having  spent  some  time  in  the  mosque,  looking  at  the  writ¬ 
ings  of  the  Mohammedans  in  the  roof  and  on  the  pillars,  and 
having  observed  that  the  women  were  present  at  the  religious 
exercises,  something  that  we  have  not  seen  before  in  the  Moham¬ 
medan  world,  we  went  out  for  a  little  while.  When  we  returned 


[175] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


and  passed  by  the  mosque,  we  saw  a  great  gathering  of  men, 
who  had  just  arrived  there  to  hold  their  religious  exercises. 
There  must  have  been  several  hundred,  and  as  they  were  lined 
up,  side  by  side,  it  looked  as  though  they  had  been  taking  gym¬ 
nastics.  In  connection  with  their  prayers  they  swing  their 
bodies  back  and  forth,  and  time  and  again  they  bend  their 
heads  to  the  ground. 

Now  we  went  out  to  the  street  Darb  el  Mustackim  (the 
straight  street).  It  runs  through  the  town  from  east  to  west, 
almost  through  the  middle  of  the  city,  and  it  is,  as  the  name 
signifies,  quite  straight.  It  was  on  this  street  that  Ananias  was 
walking  when  he  was  called  by  the  Lord  to  visit  Paul,  who  was 
praying  for  his  salvation  in  the  house  of  Judas.  Now  it  was 
said  of  Saul,  “Behold  he  prayeth.”  We  continued  our  march 
on  this  street  eastward  to  the  end,  near  by  the  Roman  gateway. 
Here  is  the  Christian  quarter,  to  the  north  of  the  street.  The 
last  street,  which  turns  to  the  left  before  you  reach  the  gate, 
leads  you  within  a  few  minutes  to  the  chapel  of  Ananias.  We 
pass  through  a  door  and  come  into  an  open  space,  from  which  a 
stair  leads  down  to  the  chapel.  This  belongs  at  present  to  the 
Roman  Catholics.  The  chapel  is  built  over  the  crypt,  which 
once  upon  a  time  was  the  home  of  Ananias.  It  was  in  this  crypt 
that  he  received  the  revelation  to  go  to  Saul  of  Tarsus.  We 
read  in  the  Acts  9:10-19:  “And  there  was  a  certain  disciple  at 
Damascus  named  Ananias ;  and  to  him  the  Lord  said  in  a  vision, 
Ananias.  And  he  said,  Behold,  I  am  here,  Lord.  And  the  Lord 
said  unto  him,  Arise,  and  go  into  the  street,  which  is  called 
Straight,  and  inquire  in  the  house  of  Judas  for  one  called  Saul 
of  Tarsus:  for,  behold,  he  prayeth,  and  hath  seen  in  a  vision  a 
man  named  Ananias  coming  in,  and  putting  his  hand  on  him 
that  he  might  receive  his  sight,  ...”  The  reader  knows  the 
story  by  heart.  This  is  the  story  of  the  conversion  of  the  man 

[  176  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


from  Tarsus,  that  great  opponent  to  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  In 
that  little  crypt  Ananias  kept  himself  at  the  time,  if  the  tradition 
is  correct,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  it.  The  enemies  of 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  have  sought  to  explain  away  this  remark¬ 
able  conversion,  but  no  matter  whither  you  turn,  the  stubborn 
fact  of  this  event  is  written  so  plainly  and  so  clearly  that  there 
is  no  escape.  It  is  absolutely  historical  from  every  point  of  view. 

Otherwise,  whence  the  sudden  change  in  the  life  of  this  man  ? 
How  did  he  become  so  changed  that  he  now  hated  those  things 
that  he  had  loved  to  do  before?  From  now  on,  nothing  could 
hinder  him  from  laboring  for  the  Master  faithfully  to  the  end 
of  his  days.  The  natural  mind  cannot  explain  this.  The  words 
of  this  man  are  very  fitting  here :  ‘  ‘  The  natural  man  conceiveth 
not  the  things  of  the  spirit  of  God,  for  they  are  foolishness  to 
him ;  neither  can  he  know  them,  for  they  must  be  spiritually 
discerned.”  (I  Cor.  2:14.)  Paul  did  not  understand  those 
things  either,  and  he  had  no  conception  that  he  had  been  kicking 
against  the  goads.  But  when  the  light  shone  from  above,  then 
all  things  became  clear  to  him. 

But  these  three  days  that  he  was  in  the  house  of  Ananias 
were  dark  days  for  him  He  longed  for  deliverance  and  it  came 
through  the  message  of  Ananias.  His  sins  were  forgiven,  his 
eyes  were  opened,  and  he  saw  a  new  world  before  him.  Now 
he  saw  things  from  a  different  viewpoint.  And  now  he  received 
a  new  life-mission,  for  his  heart  was  glowing  with  heavenly  love 
for  the  Master.  On  the  outside  of  that  gate  came  a  blind,  raging 
Saul,  who  was  breathing  slaughter  and  threats  against  the 
disciples  of  the  Lord;  here  he  had  been  changed  by  the  grace 
of  Christ  and  became  a  new  man  with  a  new  hope,  a  new  vision, 
and  new  aspirations  In  his  case  the  words  of  the  Master  to 
Nicodemus  at  Jerusalem  find  application:  “The  wind  bloweth 
where  it  listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof,  but  canst 


[177] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


not  tell  whence  it  cometh,  and  whither  it  goeth :  so  is  every  one 
that  is  born  of  the  spirit/’  ( Joh.  3  :  8) .  Here  I  am  in  Damascus, 
on  the  very  spot  where  these  great  events  took  place  almost 
two  thousand  years  ago,  and  this  story  is  told  in  the  sacred  Scrip¬ 
tures  all  over  the  world.  I  felt  as  though  the  great  spirit  of 
the  apostle  was  overshadowing  me,  and  for  a  long  time  I  went 
around  pondering  upon  these  things.  Think  of  the  influence  of 
this  man’s  life-work!  "What  would  the  world  have  been  at 
present,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  great  influence  of  this  man 
of  God ! 

In  the  next  place  we  will  visit  the  home  of  Ananias,  where 
these  things  took  place  A  Christian  woman,  who  had  opened 
the  door  for  us  and  met  us  at  the  gate,  showed  us  around.  There 
is  something  about  these  women  that  makes  you  believe  that 
they  are  Christians.  There  is  such  a  difference  between  them 
and  the  Mohammedans.  They  did  not  ask  for  bakschisch,  but 
we  gave  them,  nevertheless,  some  piasters,  and  for  this  they 
manifested  their  great  thankfulness  and  appreciation.  Then  we 
went  out  and  continued  our  wanderings  in  the  ancient  city. 
We  went  back  to  the  straight  street  which  leads  to  the  gate. 
This  gate  dates  from  the  Roman  period,  and  consists  of  a  large 
door  in  the  middle  and  two  smaller  ones  at  the  side.  Now  the 
middle  and  the  one  to  the  right  are  closed,  and  only  the  one  to 
the  left  is  used ;  through  this  door  we  went  out.  Outside  of  the 
gate  on  the  south  side  of  the  road  is  a  factory.  In  this  shop, 
where  all  kinds  of  furniture  are  made,  such  as  tables,  chairs, 
bedsteads  and  all  sorts  of  cooking  utensils,  six  hundred  children 
are  at  work.  They  are  from  eight  to  fifteen  years  old. 

These  children  work  under  the  leadership  of  an  older  and 
experienced  man  and  they  make  very  fine  wares,  both  in  metal 
and  wood.  Most  of  these  children  are  of  Jewish  parentage. 
Think  of  the  sight  here  in  this  ancient  city !  Those  poor  children 

[178] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


sit  there  and  hammer  on  their  kettles,  or  saw  and  work  on  wood. 
Poor  children !  It  did  hurt  me  to  see  them  sit  there  and  work 
at  that  age.  I  asked  the  foreman  if  these  children  were  not 
given  any  time  for  studies  during  their  childhood,  so  that  they 
might  learn  something  besides  this  trade.  He  answered  me 
that  they  are  given  certain  months  in  the  year  when  they  can 
go  to  school  and  learn  to  read  and  write,  and  he  thought  that 
this  ought  to  be  enough  for  them.  The  children  looked  very 
intelligent,  and  you  could  see  what  they  had  done  right  here  in 
the  shop.  I  told  the  foreman  that  child-labor  is  forbidden  in 
our  country,  and  he  said  that  he  had  heard  it,  but  he  thought 
that  such  work  as  these  children  were  doing  would  not  hurt 
them  in  the  least.  Of  course,  they  were  given  a  chance  to  learn 
a  trade,  and  we  must  admit  that  that  is  a  good  feature.  The 
old  Jewish  maxim  read  like  this:  “He  who  does  not  teach  his 
child  a  trade,  teaches  it  to  steal,”  and  there  is  a  lot  of  truth  in 
that  statement. 

While  we  are  here  on  the  outside  of  the  eastern  gate  of 
Damascus,  we  must  see  the  house  of  Naaman,  the  leper.  We  turn 
to  the  left  and  in  a  few  minutes  we  come  to  the  ruins  of  a  very 
old  building.  A  little  to  the  east  of  the  road  is  a  building  called 
the  house  of  Naaman,  and  it  is  used  as  a  hospital  for  leprous 
people.  We  looked  in,  as  the  door  was  ajar,  and  there  sat  a 
number  of  leprous  women,  who,  with  their  hands  outstretched, 
cried,  Bakschisch,  chawadje.”  Poor  women,  to  sit  there  con¬ 
sumed  by  such  a  disease !  But  it  was  a  beautiful  thought  that 
has  changed  the  house  of  Naaman  into  a  hospital  for  those 
lepers.  It  is  Christian  love  that  has  done  this.  What  would 
this  world  of  ours  be  without  Christian  love? 

We  return  from  this  side  trip  and  go  by  the  Roman  gate 
and  turn  to  the  right,  walk  along  the  way  that  leads  to  the  south, 
along  the  wall  of  the  city,  and  here  and  there  on  the  wall  we  see 


[179] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


some  towers.  The  lower  part  of  the  wall  is  of  Roman  origin. 
At  last  we  come  to  a  gate  that  is  now  closed.  It  is  called  by  the 
Mohammedans  Bab  Kisan,  but  the  Christians  call  it  Bab  Bulas. 
Tradition  holds  that  Saint  Paul  fled  from  the  city  through  this 
gate,  having  been  let  down  in  a  basket. 

Right  opposite  this  gate  there  is  a  building,  which  is  nearly 
covered  by  a  walnut  tree,  and  this  little  building  is  the  tomb 
of  Saint  George,  who  is  said  to  have  assisted  Saint  Paul  in  his 
flight  from  Damascus,  and  given  him  the  necessary  help.  About 
ten  minutes’  walk  from  this  place  is  the  Christian  cemetery. 
We  passed  by  this  as  we  were  walking  along  the  way.  Not  very 
far  from  this  cemetery  is  shown  the  place  where  Paul  was  con¬ 
verted. 

Regarding  the  place  or  gate,  where  Paul  is  recorded  to  have 
been  let  down  over  the  wall,  it  is  very  difficult  to  say  anything 
definite.  The  Turks  have  built  on  the  wall  since  they  have 
become  masters  of  the  city  and  only  a  part  of  the  wall  is  in 
existence.  But  they  are  not  so  particular  about  exact  locations. 
If  they  do  not  know  where  these  places  are  found,  they  guess 
at  them ;  others  come  along  and  believe  that  these  are  the  right 
places,  and  so  they  are  fixed.  And  it  happens  that  two  or  more 
places  are  sometimes  shown  for  a  particular  saint.  And  they 
say  that  he  is  a  poor  saint  who  does  not  have  more  than  two 
birthplaces. 

I  brought  along  my  camera ;  and  having  taken  a  photograph 
of  the  traditional  window  and  the  wall  where  Paul  escaped  from 
Aretas,  kept  on  walking  until  the  road  turned  to  the  southwest. 
Here  is  the  great  caravan  road,  leading  toward  the  desert.  Along 
this  road  thousands  upon  thousands  of  Mohammedan  pilgrims 
have  been  wandering.  They  have  a  long  way  to  go — Mecca  in 
Arabia,  We  followed  this  road  a  little  distance,  met  camels  by 
the  score,  asses  and  donkeys  in  abundance,  and  came  at  last  to 


[180] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


the  Mohammedan  cemetery.  It  was  a  little  better  kept  than  the 
one  at  Scutari.  We  sat  down  a  little  while  and  observed  how 
the  Mohammedan  women  manifested  their  sorrow  towards  those 
who  have  passed  from  them.  They  squatted  down  by  the  grave 
and  prayed ;  and,  of  course,  their  faces  were  veiled.  As  we 
observed  those  sorrowing  women,  there  came  some  Dervishes 
along  the  road,  dressed  in  black  gowns,  and  had  high  black  hats 
on  their  heads.  They  marched  along  very  slowly  and  did  not 
observe  us  in  the  least,  as  we  sat  by  the  roadside.  From  this 
place  it  is  not  very  far  to  the  railroad  station,  which  is  located 
on  the  plain  to  the  southwest  of  the  city. 

As  we  sat  there  on  this  historic  ground,  I  thought  particu¬ 
larly  of  the  man  who,  about  two  thousand  years  ago,  came  across 
that  plain  with  a  very  malicious  mind  towards  the  Christians. 
But  having  met  the  Master,  he  was  struck  with  blindness  and 
led  into  the  city  through  the  Roman  gate,  not  very  far  from  here. 
Tradition  holds  that  Paul  came  in  through  the  eastern  gate, 
and  entered  the  city  through  it.  This  does  not  seem  to  be  to  be 
in  full  harmony  with  the  location.  If  he  came  over  the  plain 
from  the  southwest — and  he  certainly  must  have  done  that — 
it  would  seem  natural  that  he  should  enter  the  city  by  the  west¬ 
ern  or  southwestern  gateway.  He  was  found  in  the  house  of 
Judas,  and  tradition  points  out  this  house  just  inside  the  Roman 
gate,  at  the  western  end  of  the  Straight  street.  If  he  came  into 
the  city  through  the  eastern  gate,  why  was  it  necessary  for  him 
to  go  through  the  city  to  the  western  gate?  He  was  blind,  and 
no  doubt  it  was  difficult  for  him  to  move  along.  They  led  him 
into  the  city  and  it  would  seem  that  he  would  stop  at  the  nearest 
place;  and  the  house  of  Judas  is  just  inside  the  gate  in  the 
southwestern  part  of  the  city. 

We  had  been  traveling  very  much  all  day;  and  so  we  re¬ 
entered  the  city  through  the  southwestern  gate,  took  the  street 

[181] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


car,  and  went  to  the  hotel.  ‘  ‘  Street  car  in  Damascus !  ”  I  hear 
the  reader  exclaim.  Yes,  that  is  the  very  fact.  The  streets  are 
so  very  narrow,  though,  that  it  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  pass 
through  the  streets  on  the  street  cars.  The  sleepy,  lazy  Turks 
seem  to  enjoy  to  ride  on  this  kind  of  vehicle. 

When  we  came  to  the  hotel,  we  made  preparations  for  our 
journey  through  Perea  to  Jerusalem.  We  were  not  so  sure  that 
it  would  be  safe  to  go  that  way  to  Jerusalem,  because  the  east 
Jordanic  country  is  inhabited  by  Beduin  tribes,  and  because  they 
cannot  be  depended  upon.  We  tried  to  find  out  whether  it  would 
be  possible  to  secure  safe  protection  at  Amman,  and  we  tele¬ 
graphed  to  the  station  agent  at  that  place  to  find  out  if  we  could 
get  protection  and  horses  to  our  destination.  We  sent  the  tele¬ 
gram  to  the  station  agent  and  paid  for  it ;  and  although  we  waited 
a  long  time,  there  was  no  answer.  I  am  quite  sure  that  he  put 
the  money  in  his  pocket,  and  let  it  go  at  that.  That  would  be  just 
like  the  Turks.  Time  and  again  we  asked  whether  we  had  not 
had  any  reply  from  the  agent  at  Amman,  but  he  always  came 
with  the  same  helpless,  ‘ 1  Non,  monsieur.  ’  ’ 

I  determined  to  go  to  the  American  consulate  to  learn 
whether  it  would  be  safe  to  pass  through  the  country  between 
Amman  and  Jerusalem.  The  14th  of  September  I  went  with  a 
young  man  to  the  consulate.  Like  other  dignitaries  the  Consul 
lived  in  a  magnificent  house.  It  looked  very  insignificant  on  the 
outside,  but  within  it  was  arranged  according  to  Oriental  style. 
In  the  middle  of  the  inner  court,  which  was  surrounded  with 
buildings,  was  a  floor  of  marble.  Palms  and  other  trees  were 
placed  there  in  abundance.  The  fountain  in  the  center  gave  a 
rich  supply  of  water.  But  lo,  there  he  comes  himself,  barefooted 
and  dressed  in  a  long  garment  that  looked  like  a  shirt.  I  became 
somewhat  embarrassed  to  find  such  a  representative  for  my 
country.  He  looked  like  a  Turk,  and  I  wondered  whether  this 


[  182  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


man  could  speak  my  language.  He  became  somewhat  surprised 
when  I  addressed  him  in  the  American  language,  and  when  he 
found  out  that  I  was  from  the  United  States;  and  I  have  no 
doubt  that  it  was  because  h©  was  dressed  in  such  a  fashion. 

As  to  my  question,  whether  it  would  be  safe  to  go  by  way 
of  Amman  to  Jerusalem,  he  answered  that  there  would  be  no 
danger  whatever.  But  he  said  that  in  order  to  make  certain,  he 
would  inquire  from  the  governor  of  Damascus.  As  soon  as  he 
had  seen  him  he  would  come  to  me  and  inform  me  about  it,  or 
he  would  send  his  cavass. 

In  the  afternoon  our  Consul  came  to  the  hotel,  dressed  in  a 
black  Prince  Albert  coat,  and  looked  like  an  American  in  every 
way.  He  told  me  that  he  had  been  to  the  governor  and  he  had 
telegraphed  to  the  Kaimakan  of  Amman  to  help  me  in  every  way, 
as  to  protection  and  horses  for  the  journey  from  Amman. 

I  had  given  this  gentleman  quite  a.  bit  of  trouble,  and  I 
offered  to  pay  him  for  it,  but  he  did  not  wish  to  have  any  pay. 
I  felt  somewhat  proud  of  the  fact  that  the  governor  of  Damascus 
would  go  to  such  trouble  for  me.  The  Consul  had  been  very 
kind  and  helpful  to  me,  and  he  did  not  spare  himself  to  help  the 
American  stranger. 

In  the  afternoon  we  went  to  see  the  Mohammedan  quarter. 
It  looked  very  much  dilapidated  and  dirt  stared  you  in  the  face 
everywhere.  What  a  difference  between  the  Mohammedan  and 
Christian  quarters  !  As  we  came  to  the  Straight  street,  we 
asked  the  guide  to  take  us  to  the  house  of  Judas.  This  house  is 
now  a  Mohammedan  mosque.  It  was  in  this  place,  then,  that 
Saul  was  led  that  memorable  day  Nothing  is  related  about  this 
Judas,  but  tradition  tells  us  that  Ananias  became  the  Bishop  of 
Damascus,  and  died  as  a  martyr  in  this  city. 

We  are  now  done  with  our  wanderings  in  this  old  metropolis. 
As  beautiful  as  it  looks  when  you  see  it  at  a  distance,  so  detestable 


[183] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


and  miserable  does  it  look  when  you  come  near  it,  and  have  a 
chance  to  walk  along  its  streets  and  see  it  at  near  range.  It  is  an 
Oriental  city  and  that  is  enough. 

Were  it  not  for  the  rivers  Barada  and  Awai,  the  country 
around  here  would  be  a  veritable  desert;  but  now,  because  of 
the  abundance  of  the  water,  there  is  reason  for  giving  this  city 
pet  names,  as  the  Arabs  do.  They  call  it  “The  Pearl  of  the 
Orient,”  “The  Paradise,”  “The  Necklace  of  Beauty,”  “The 
Feathers  of  the  Peacock,”  and  “The  Eye  of  the  East.”  For 
the  poor  Arab  who  is  passing  the  dry  and  dreary  desert,  under 
the  hot  Syrian  sun,  it  means  so  much  for  him  to  come  to  such 
a  place,  where  he  can  rest  under  the  shadow  of  beautiful  trees 
and  drink  cool,  refreshing  water  to  his  heart’s  content.  No  won¬ 
der  that  he  finds  all  kinds  of  pet  names  for  such  a  place. 

It  is  not  strange  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  speak  of  springs 
and  wells  and  flowing  waters  so  often.  The  men  who  wrote 
the  Bible  lived  mostly  in  countries  where  there  was  a  scarcity 
of  water,  and  hence  the  value  of  the  fresh  and  living  water, 
as  they  call  it. 


[184] 


Chapter  X 

THROUGH  BASHAN  TO  HAIFA 

WE  went  early  to  bed,  so  that  we  might  be  able  to  rise  be¬ 
times  in  order  to  continue  our  journey.  At  half  past 
four  in  the  morning  we  had  our  breakfast,  and  then  the  hack 
stood  ready  to  drive  us  to  the  Meidan  station,  a  mile  to  the 
southwest  from  the  city. 

We  boarded  the  train  at  six.  My  worthy  reader,  you  should 
have  seen  how  the  coach  looked  inside.  I  do  not  think  it  had 
been  cleaned  for  the  past  two  or  three  weeks.  But  we  must  not 
be  so  particular.  Let  us  remember  that  we  are  in  the  Orient. 

The  reader  is,  perhaps,  familiar  with  the  fact  that  there 
are  two  railroads  that  pass  through  Bashan,  running  parallel 
to  each  other  to  Derat,  the  old  Edrei.  The  line  further  west, 
called  Hauran,  was  built  by  a  French  company.  The  eastern 
line,  which  is  called  Hedjan,  has  been  built  quite  recently  and 
runs  in  a  southerly  direction,  making  two  great  curves  to  the 
east.  This  road  runs  also  to  Edrei,  Mann,  Medina  and  Mecca. 
As  far  as  I  know,  I  was  the  first  American  that  had  traveled 
over  that  road,  and  it  was  quite  strange  to  be  permitted  to  pass 
through  a  country  having  such  a  remarkable  history  and  such 
a  place  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

The  railroad  passes  over  a  plateau,  which  is  quite  level 
but  barren  and  desolate.  As  we  pass  along  this  plateau  south¬ 
ward,  we  see  orchards  and  other  plantations  with  small  houses 
between  them ;  but  they  are  dirty  and  badly  kept.  Out  on  the 
plain,  not  so  very  far  from  Damascus,  we  see  in  the  clear  morn- 

[  185  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


ing  air  the  majestic  Antilebanon,  and  at  its  southern  end  Mt. 
Ilermon,  9,000  feet  high,  with  snow  upon  some  of  its  summits. 
This  is  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  as  we  shall  see  further  on 
in  our  story.  Longingly  I  looked  toward  the  stately  mountain 
range.  Further  on  in  our  journey  we  shall  rest  at  its  foot  over 
night.  During  our  entire  journey  in  Bashan  we  see  its  high 
head,  pointing  heavenward.  No  wonder  that  this  mountain  is  so 
often  spoken  of  in  the  Bible ! 

We  soon  came  to  a  great  and  level  plateau.  This  is  called 
Hauran.  It  is  also  called  Bashan  in  the  Bible.  When  the 
children  of  Israel  in  the  fourteenth  century  B.  C.  came  into  this 
territory,  the  Rephaites  lived  on  these  plains.  Further  west, 
on  a  narrow  tract  of  land,  east  of  the  J ordan,  the  Amorites  used 
to  dwell.  In  Num.  21:33-35  we  read:  “And  they  turned  and 
went  up  the  way  of  Bashan :  and  Og  the  king  of  Bashan  went 
out  against  them,  he,  and  his  people,  to  the  battle  of  Edrei.  And 
the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Fear  him  not:  for  I  have  delivered 
him  into  thy  hand,  and  all  his  people,  and  all  his  land ;  and  thou 
shalt  do  unto  him  as  thou  didst  unto  Sihon,  king  of  the  Amorites, 
which  dwelt  at  Hesbon.  So  they  smote  him,  and  his  sons,  and 
all  his  people,  until  there  was  none  left  alive :  and  they  possessed 
his  land.  ”  In  I  Kings  4:13  it  is  related  that  one  of  the  officers 
of  Solomon  received,  as  his  part,  “the  region  of  Argob,  which  is 
in  Bashan,  three  score  great  cities  with  walls  and  brazen  bars.” 
Briefly  this  country  is  mentioned  in  another  place  in  the  Scrip¬ 
tures,  and  then  it  vanishes  out  of  history  for  some  time.  When 
Bashan  again  appears  in  history,  it  is  made  desolate  by  King 
Hazael,  during  the  reign  of  Jehu  (2  Kings  10  :33).  The  boundary 
lines  of  the  country  are  quite  well  drawn.  In  the  north  it  ex¬ 
tends  to  the  foot  of  Hermon,  in  the  south  to  Edrei  and  Salka,  on 
the  southernmost  branch  of  Jarmuk,  and  in  the  east  the  moun- 


[186] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


tain  ridge  of  Hanran  forms  the  boundary  line.  The  northern 
boundary  line  from  Hermon  eastward  is  not  so  well  indicated. 

Bashan  is  very  fruitful.  The  very  name  signifies  “  fruitful 
soil  ’  ’ ;  and  when  you  remember  that  a  part  of  Bashan,  the  little 
country  of  Argob,  could  bring  forth  sustenance  for  sixty  quite 
large  villages,  it  must  have  been  quite  fertile.  From  the  Bible 
we  know  that  the  land  of  Bashan  is  renowned  by  its  “  Butter  of 
kine,  and  milk  of  sheep,  with  fat  of  lambs,  and  rams  of  the 
breed  of  Bashan,  and  goats,  with  the  fat  of  kidneys  of  wheat.” 
(Deut.  32  :14).  The  oxen  of  Bashan  are  known  for  their  strength. 
(Ps.  22:  13).  This  country,  now  so  desolate  and  barren,  must 
have  been,  at  least  in  part,  covered  with  trees,  because  the  oaks 
of  Bashan  are  spoken  of  in  connection  with  the  cedars  of  Leba¬ 
non.  (Is.  2:13.)  From  the  oaks  of  Bashan  proud  Tyre  prepared 
its  oars.  (Hez.  27:  6).  But  the  majestic  oak  forests  are  now 
gone,  and  this  has  been  an  irreparable  loss  to  the  country. 

The  King  of  Damascus,  Hazael,  conquered  this  territory, 
taking  both  Bashan  and  Gilead  from  Jehu,  the  King  of  Israel, 
but  during  the  time  of  Joash  the  Syrians  recaptured  their  lost 
country,  taken  by  Hazael.  During  the  time  of  Tiglat  Pilezer 
the  inhabitants  of  Gilead  were  carried  away  into  captivity, 
and  it  is  very  likely  that  the  people  of  Bashan  were  also  taken 
and  sent  into  captivity. 

At  the  time  of  Christ  this  part  of  the  country  is  divided  as 
follows:  Gaulanitis,  Auranitis,  Trachonitis,  Batanea,  and  south 
of  Hermon,  Iturea.  This  last-mentioned  division  is  spoken  of  in 
Luke  3:1.  Philip  was  tetrarch  in  Iturea  and  the  land  of  Tracho¬ 
nitis.  Iturea  received  its  name  from  Itur,  one  of  the  sons  of 
Ismael,  who  settled  here.  This  province  is  now  called  Jedur. 
Gaulanitis  was  located  to  the  east  of  the  Sea  of  Genesareth.  In 
this  province  there  was  a  city  by  the  name  Golan,  one  of  the 


[  187  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


cities  of  refuge  in  the  east  Jordanic  country;  the  province 
received  its  name  from  this  city. 

Auranitis  was  located  east  of  this  province,  and  it  seems  as 
though  it  comprehended  the  same  territory  as  Argob.  Auranitis 
signifies  the  “hollow”  country,  because  it  is  so  full  of  holes, 
which  the  inhabitants  have  dug  to  gather  the  rain-water  in  the 
rainy  season.  East  of  this  division  is  Trachonitis.  It  is  very 
rolling  and  the  very  name  signifies  this.  Now  regarding  this 
land  we  read  the  following  in  Josephus:  “They  (the  Trachonite) 
had  neither  any  city  of  their  own,  nor  lands  in  their  possession, 
but  only  some  receptacles  and  dens  in  the  earth,  and  there  they 
and  their  cattle  lived  in  common  together.  However,  they  had 
made  contrivances  to  get  pools  of  water,  and  laid  up  corn  in 
granaries  for  themselves,  and  were  able  to  make  great  resistance, 
by  issuing  out  on  the  sudden  against  any  that  attacked  them ;  for 
the  entrances  of  their  caves  are  narrow,  in  which  but  one  could 
come  in  at  a  time,  and  the  places  within  incredibly  large,  and 
made  very  wide,  but  the  ground  over  their  habitation  was  not 
very  high,  but  rather  on  the  plain,  while  the  rocks  are  altogether 
hard  and  difficult  to  be  entered  upon  unless  anyone  gets  into 
the  plain  road,  by  the  guidance  of  another;  for  these  roads  are 
not  straight,  but  have  several  revolutions.  But  when  these  men 
are  hindered  from  their  wicked  preying  upon  their  neighbors, 
their  custom  is  to  prey  upon  one  another,  in  so  much  that  no  sort 
of  injustice  comes  amiss  to  them.  But  when  Herod  had  received 
this  grant  from  Caesar,  and  was  come  onto  this  country,  he  pro¬ 
cured  skillful  guides,  and  put  a  stop  to  their  wicked  robberies, 
and  procured  peace  and  quietness  to  the  neighbouring  people.” 
(Jos.  Ant.  15:10:1.)  Trachonitis  is  the  old  Gezur. 

Now  Bashan  as  a  country  is  very  little  known.  Of  course, 
travelers  have  passed  through  in  every  direction ;  but,  owing  to 
the  hostility  of  the  Beduins,  it  has  not  been  possible  to  undertake 

[  188  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


investigations  in  detail.  In  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century  Europeans  crossed  over  this  plain,  but  they  did  not  dare 
to  stay  any  length  of  time  to  make  any  research.  Among  these 
men  we  might  mention  Seetzen,  Burckhardt,  who,  disguised  as  a 
Mohammedan,  went  around  here,  Richter,  Buckingham  and 
others.  Certain  it  is  that  this  country  is  a  rich  field  for  investi¬ 
gation.  The  new  railroad  will  render  a  very  great  help  mate¬ 
rially  in  this  respect. 

We  are  now  in  Bashan  and,  of  course,  within  the  boundary 
lines  of  the  Promised  Land.  I  felt  as  though  I  was  waking  up 
from  a  sleep,  as  our  locomotive  moved  onward  through  these 
historic  regions.  It  is  an  old  country,  and  yet  it  looks  quite  new 
in  certain  respects.  The  railroad  is  the  new  highway  through 
this  ancient  territory,  and  at  the  stations  it  looks  very  much  as 
it  does  in  our  own  country,  in  the  wild  and  woolly  west,  where 
the  railroads  are  opening  up  the  wild  territories. 

When  you  look  at  the  hovels  where  the  poor  people  dwell, 
you  find  them  dilapidated  and  on  the  point  of  ruin.  Here  and 
there  you  will  notice  the  black  Beduin  tents;  they  live  mostly  in 
tents  on  these  prairies.  These  tents  look  weird  and  gloomy  and 
the  more  so,  when  you  think  of  the  nature  of  the  people  that 
dwell  in  them. 

But  look  at  the  extensive  fields  of  lava  stones  that  are 
scattered  in  every  direction !  It  is  a  great  field  of  stagnant 
lava.  Along  the  plain  you  will  notice  prism-like  hills.  They 
were  formed  in  the  volcanic  times,  when  the  whole  east  Jordanic 
territory  received  its  present  form.  The  whole  field  is  a  volcanic 
region,  in  whose  interior  fearful  fires  have  been  raging,  and  in 
the  course  of  time  this  field  with  its  numerous  prisms  have 
cooled  off.  This  lava  stream  covers  a  very  extensive  part  of  this 
plateau,  and  is  full  of  crevices  in  every  direction.  Now  and  then 
you  will  notice  rich  valleys,  which  in  the  rainy  season  looks  so 

[189] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


beautiful  by  reason  of  the  abundance  of  flowers  and  bushes  that 
are  found  here. 

In  these  valleys  the  Beduins  find  most  excellent  hiding- 
places,  and  hither  they  flee  when  they  have  been  out  on  their 
hunting  expeditions  on  the  prairies,  robbing  the  caravans  and 
travelers  who  have  ventured  within  their  landmarks.  El-Ledja 
signifies  “refuge,”  and  to  those  hiding-places  these  booty-loving 
sons  of  the  deserts  have  gone  for  centuries,  and  there  they  have 
found  a  safe  refuge. 

Here  in  these  regions  we  have  to  look  for  Uz,  the  home 
country  of  Job,  where  he  as  a  nomad  sheik  led  his  flocks  and 
cattle  to  pasture:  Here  he  found  “how  the  Lord  gave  and  how 
he  took  away.  ’  ’  In  these  experiences  of  his  he  still  said :  ‘ 1  Blessed 
be  the  name  of  the  Lord.” 

Along  this  lava  bed  the  old  Romans  opened  up  a  road,  and 
you  will  observe  parts  of  this  road  along  the  railroad.  It  runs 
in  a  southeasterly  direction  from  El-Mismije  to  the  Hauran 
mountains  and  along  these  mountains  to  Bozra.  By  the  railroad 
we  observe  also  ruins  of  old  cities ;  and  some  of  them  are  so  well 
preserved  that  they  could  be  used  for  dwelling-places  without 
any  repairs  at  all ;  and  in  some  of  them  people  are  still  living. 
This  desert  is  very  extensive  for  it  covers  an  area  of  about  1000 
American  square  miles — an  immense  field  of  lava  stones ! 

There  are  some  who  have  held  that  Moses  passed  the  boun¬ 
daries  of  veracity  when  he,  regarding  the  cities  in  this  part  of 
the  Land  of  Promise,  says :  “  So  the  Lord  our  God  delivered  into 
our  hands  Og  also,  the  king  of  Bashan,  and  all  his  people:  and 
we  smote  him  until  none  was  left  to  him  remaining.  And  we 
took  all  his  cities  at  that  time,  there  was  not  a  city  which  we 
took  not  from  them,  three  score  cities,  all  the  region  of  Argob, 
the  kingdom  of  Og  in  Bashan.  All  these  cities  were  fenced  with 
high  walls,  gates,  and  bars,  beside  unwalled  towns  a  great 

[190] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


many.”  (Dent.  3:3-5.)  When  we  read  the  prophecies  of  Jere¬ 
miah,  we  receive  the  impression  that  he  has  gone  around  among 
these  cities  of  Bashan  in  our  own  days.  (Jer.  4:7).  In  the  same 
lamentation  Hezekiel  joins:  “Son  of  man,  eat  thy  bread  with 
quaking,  and  drink  thy  water  with  trembling  and  with  careful¬ 
ness.  And  say  unto  the  people  of  the  land,  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
God  of  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  and  of  the  land  of  Israel: 
They  shalt  eat  their  bread  with  carefulness  and  drink  their  water 
with  astonishment,  that  her  land  may  be  desolate  from  all  that 
is  therein,  because  of  the  violence  from  all  them  that  dwell 
therein.  And  the  cities  that  are  inhabited  shall  be  laid  waste, 
and  the  land  shall  be  desolate ;  and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the 
Lord.”  (Hez.  12:  18-20).  The  ancient  Rephaim,  “the  lofty 
men,”  built  these  cities.  They  are  generally  called  giants.  In 
the  time  of  Abraham  they  were  living  in  the  highlands  of  Bashan. 
Their  capital,  Ashtaroth  Karnaim,  the  two-horned  Ashtaroth, 
was  taken  by  the  Elamite  king,  Chedorlaomer,  the  earliest  con- 
querer  of  the  Bible  history.  This  people  lost  gradually  their 
nationality  and  were  merged  with  the  Amorites.  Think  of  it ! 
These  giants  were  able  to  build  cities  which  for  thousands  of 
years  have  defied  the  gnawing  tooth  of  time.  These  old  cities 
still  stand  there,  as  a  powerful  testimony  that  it  was  not  Israel 
that  conquered  the  land  with  their  own  power,  but  the  Lord, 
who  fought  for  His  people. 

The  people  that  lived  here  have  passed  out  of  this  world 
without  writing  any  history  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word,  but 
they  have  left  monuments  that  will  stand  for  ages.  Here  you 
can  see  how  they  built  their  houses,  how  they  formed  their 
temples,  and  how  they  buried  their  dead,  how  they  sought  their 
enjoyments  in  the  theaters  and  the  like — but  of  their  lives  we 
know  nothing  else.  Here  we  can  apply  the  words  of  Jeremiah: 
“Give  wings  unto  Moab,  that  it  may  flee  and  get  away:  for  the 

[  191 J 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


cities  thereof  shall  be  desolate  without  any  to  dwell  therein.’’ 
(Jer.  48:  9).  If  you  wish  to  know  the  reason  why  these  cities 
have  become  desolate,  read  the  Prophets  and  you  will  find  out. 
Their  words  have  been  literally  fulfilled.  The  Lord  is  not  to  be 
mocked. 

As  we  stop  at  the  stations,  I  notice  how  they  receive  their 
friends  that  come  on  the  train.  These  Beduins  ride  on  swift 
Arab  steeds,  and  I  pity  him  who  thinks  he  can  get  away  from 
them.  These  rapacious  sons  of  the  desert  know  no  mercy,  when 
they  meet  their  enemies  out  on  these  desolate  plains.  Here 
among  these  people  the  customs  and  manners  are  kept  almost 
invariable  from  year  to  year,  and  as  they  have  been  doing  for 
thousands  of  years,  they  are  doing  now.  In  ages  gone  by  they 
have  crossed  these  plains  as  they  do  now,  lived  in  their  miserable 
tents  and  huts,  tended  to  their  flocks  as  they  do  now  and  robbed 
and  murdered  as  at  present.  The  traits  of  Ishmael  still  cling  to 
them,  and  as  his  hand  was  against  every  man,  so  it  has  been 
and  so  it  is  with  these  Beduins.  They  consider  every  man,  out¬ 
side  of  their  tribe,  their  enemy,  and  treat  him  as  such. 

And  yet  you  will  find  a  most  wonderful  and  firm  friendship 
among  them,  and  this  is  made  manifest  in  their  hospitality  and 
willingness  to  sacrifice  for  those  who  come  to  seek  help  and 
protection  under  their  roof.  I  observed  how  they  greeted  one 
another  with  a  kiss  on  the  cheek,  and  it  was  a  pleasure  to  see 
how  the  beams  of  love  and  friendship  sparkled  in  their  eyes, 
when  they  met  at  the  various  railroad  stations.  They  are  war¬ 
riors  and  continually  on  the  war-path.  They  always  carry  a 
gun.  Anyone  who  travels  along  these  plains  will  wonder  how 
they  secure  a  living  here;  but  remember  that  they  have  flocks 
and  cattle  in  the  valleys  and  on  the  hills.  That  is  their  richness. 

Beyond  Ezra,  or  as  the  Romans  called  it,  Zoroa,  the  lava 
field  ceases.  The  plain  here  is  quite  rolling.  To  the  southeast  of 


[  192  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Ezra  lies  El-Kunnawat  It  is  the  Kenath  of  the  Bible.  We  read 
in  the  Book  of  Numbers  32  :42,  that  Noba  went  forth  and  cap¬ 
tured  Kenath  and  the  adjoining  cities,  and  called  it  after  him¬ 
self,  Noba.  This  happened  when  Moses  conquered  the  east  Jor- 
danic  jountry. 

The  last  time  it  is  mentioned  in  the  Bible  is  two  hundred 
years  after  the  conquest.  When  Gideon  pursued  the  Midianites, 
he  went  to  those  who  lived  in  tents,  east  of  Noba  (Jnd.  8:11). 
During  the  time  of  Herod  this  city  is  spoken  of  again,  and  is 
then  known  by  its  old  name.  It  is  then  called  Kanata  or  Kana. 
Jesephus  informs  us  that  the  inhabitants  of  this  city  slew  the 
soldiers  whom  he  sent  out  to  subdue  them.  Arabs  lived  then  in 
this  locality.  Pliny  speaks  of  Kenath  as  belonging  to  the  De- 
capolis  or  the  Ten  Cities.  When  the  synod  was  held  at  Chalce- 
don  in  451,  the  Bishop  of  Kenath  was  present.  This  city  was 
captured  by  the  Arabs  and  is  now  controlled  by  the  Druses. 
The  greater  part  of  Kenath  is  now  in  ruins,  which  are  quite  well 
preserved. 

At  11  o’clock  in  the  forenoon  we  came  to  Derat,  or  Edrei, 
the  old  name.  From  this  place  the  railroad  goes  onward  to 
Mecca  and  Medina,  but  we  are  going  in  a  northwesterly  direc¬ 
tion  to  Haifa  on  the  Mediterranean.  We  are  now  in  the  heart  of 
the  ancient  kingdom  of  the  Amorites.  Here  the  Amorite  King 
Og,  lived,  and  here  he  was  overcome  by  the  Israelites  (Num.  21 : 
33).  The  city  of  Edrei  was  given  to  Makir,  the  son  of  Manasse 
(Jos.  13  :  21) .  The  town  was  located  in  Gilead.  The  King  of  this 
territory,  Og,  had  two  capitals.  The  other  was  Ashtaroth-Kar- 
naim,  and  was  located  to  the  northwest  from  here.  It  was  con¬ 
sequently  on  these  prairies  that  they  drew  up  their  armies  to 
battle.  Israel  proved  to  be  victorious.  The  Lord  was  with  them. 

Among  the  many  cities  spoken  of  in  the  Tell-el-Amarna 
tablets,  Edrei  is  one.  Now,  as  we  happen  to  mention  these  won- 

[193] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


derful  letters,  let  us  give  the  story  of  their  discovery  in  brief. 
The  discovery  of  these  letters  or  tablets  came  as  a  flash  of  light¬ 
ning  from  a  clear  sky.  In  the  year  1887  some  Arabs  happened 
to  stumble  on  a  collection  of  clay  tablets  at  Tell-el-Amarna,  an 
insignificant  settlement  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Nile  River  in 
Egypt,  about  half  way  between  Cairo  and  Thebes.  The  discovery 
aroused  great  surprise,  not  only  because  the  letters  were  found 
there,  but  also  because  of  the  language  and  contents  of  these 
tablets.  When  these  letters  were  translated,  these  questions 
were  satisfactorily  answered.  There  lived  during  the  eighteenth 
dynasty  in  Egypt  (1545-1350)  a  king  whose  name  was  Ameno- 
phis  IV  (1375-1358).  This  king  resided,  to  begin  with,  in  Upper 
Egypt.  Having  been  converted  to  the  sun  worship,  the  strong¬ 
hold  of  which  at  this  time  was  Heliopolis  or  Bethschemesch,  the 
On  of  the  Bible,  he  determined,  perhaps  at  the  instigation  of 
the  priests  at  On,  to  move  his  capital  from  Thebes  to  a  new  place, 
where  he  would  build  a  new  capital  city.  He  selected  a  place 
on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Nile  and  called  the  new  city  Ekhut- 
Aton,  “the  horizon  of  the  sun.”  Here  he  made  all  things  new 
and  now  he  must  have  a  new  religion.  It  was  a  sun  worship. 
But  the  new  religion  did  not  last  so  very  long.  After  the  death 
of  the  old  king,  Amenophis  IV,  the  old  religion  revived  again  and 
in  the  course  of  time  the  splendid  city  was  buried  in  the  sands  of 
the  desert,  and  after  some  three  thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty 
years,  some  wandering  sons  of  the  desert  stumbled  on  the  ruins 
of  this  ancient  city.  The  library  of  the  king  was  discovered, 
and  in  this  library  the  Tell-el-Amarna  tablets  saw  the  light  of 
day  again.  But  now  another  question  arose,  namely,  why  these 
letters  were  written  in  cuneiform  writing  or  script,  the  script 
of  the  old  Babylonians?  We  naturally  would  look  for  the  hiero¬ 
glyphic  form  of  writing  in  the  land  of  the  Pharaohs.  The  reason 
is  this :  Ekh-en-Aton  was  by  marriage  related  to  the  royal  family 

[194] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


of  Babylonia.  It  appears  that  the  king’s  mother  and  grand¬ 
mother  were  members  of  the  royal  family  in  Babylonia,  and 
hence  the  language  of  that  country  would  be  spoken  at  the  court 
of  the  Egyptian  king.  We  also  learn  from  these  tablets,  that 
the  Egyptian  king  had  given  his  daughter  in  marriage  to  the 
Babylonian  king.  Because  of  these  intermarriages  there  was  a 
continual  correspondence  between  the  royal  families.  There  are 
in  all  two  hundred  and  ninety-six  of  these  tablets,  and  they 
throw  a  powerful  light  on  the  Old  Testament  history. 

These  letters  contain  not  only  correspondence  between  the 
royal  families  of  Egypt  and  Babylonia,  but  a  great  many  of  them 
are  from  generals  in  the  land  of  Canaan  and  adjoining  lands. 
These  generals  are  trying  to  uphold  the  waning  power  of  Egypt 
in  these  sections,  but  they  find  it  exceedingly  difficult.  These 
letters  were  written  in  the  thirteenth  century  B.  C.  We  learn, 
furthermore,  that  Palestine  and  the  adjoining  countries  were 
very  much  pestered  with  bands  of  robbers  and  that  the  law 
stipulated  that  that  province  in  which  a  robbery  was  committed 
should  make  good  the  loss. 

In  the  Book  of  Joshua  19:14  we  read  of  a  city  by  the  name 
Ilannathon.  No  one  knew  where  this  city  was  located,  and 
some  doubted  that  such  a  town  or  city  ever  existed.  But  now 
the  Tell-el-Amarna  letters  tell  us  where  it  was  located  and  that 
a  robbery  was  perpetrated  there.  About  sixty  of  these  tablets 
are  from  an  officer  by  the  name  Ribaddi.  He  is  very  meek  in 
these  letters,  but  the  king  tells  him  to  write  less  and  fight  more, 
and  he  would  be  held  in  better  esteem  by  his  king.  From  these 
tablets  we  are  informed  that  the  authority  of  Egypt  is  growing- 
less  and  less  in  Palestine  and  Syria. 

In  this  correspondence  there  are  a  great  many  names  of 
cities,  spoken  of  in  the  Bible,  such  as  Jaffa,  Gaza,  Sidon,  Damas¬ 
cus  and  Jerusalem.  From  the  last-named  city  several  letters 

i  [  195  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


were  written,  and  this  shows  the  relation  that  existed  between 
Egypt  and  Syria,  In  these  T ell-el- Amarna  tablets  several  cities 
in  the  east  Jordanic  country  are  mentioned,  such  as  Ashtaroth, 
Bozra  and  Edrei.  It  would  seem  that  the  Amorites,  who  moved 
from  the  mountains  of  Judah  to  the  other  side  of  the  Jordan, 
had  not  been  there  long  when  the  Israelites  came  and  occupied 
the  land. 

One  of  the  letters,  which  according  to  some  authors,  is 
written  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  before  the  exodus,  is 
from  the  governor  of  Zivi-Basana,  the  field  of  Bashan.  Their 
authority  over  the  land  did  not  last  very  long  then. 

The  town  of  Derat  is  located  at  the  southern  edge  of  Wady 
Zedy,  and  over  the  river  in  this  valley,  a  tributary  to  Hieromax, 
a  Roman  stone  bridge  is  built.  There  are  3,000  inhabitants  in 
this  town;  it  is  a  seat  of  a  Kaimakan,  and  a  garrison  with  two 
companies  of  infantry  is  located  here.  Bnt  the  city,  which  we 
now  find  here  is  not  the  Edrei  of  King  Og,  because  the  present- 
day  city  is  built  on  the  ruins  of  the  old  one,  which  was  a  sub¬ 
terranean  village.  The  first  traveler  who  in  these  latter  times 
visited  the  vicinity  and  discovered  the  old  city  was  Wetzstein, 
who  in  1858  investigated  the  subterranean  labyrinths.  Here 
he  found,  cut  out  in  the  solid  rocks,  streets,  stores,  market-places 
and  dwelling-places,  but  he  could  not,  because  of  the  guide  who 
had  the  matches,  continue  his  investigations  here,  and  he  was 
afraid  that  he  might  not  be  able  to  find  his  way  out  again, 
when  he  had  no  light. 

The  houses  in  Derat  are  made  of  clay  and  stone,  and  are 
very  low  and  dingy-looking.  The  station  is  located  to  the  north 
of  the  valley.  Here  around  the  station  we  saw  a  lot  of  Beduins. 
Here  they  stood  in  great  numbers  around  the  station,  dressed 
in  their  Arab  garbs,  mantel  and  turban.  This  much  became 
evident  to  me,  that  it  would  not  be  an  easy  matter  to  get  away 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


from  these  wild  hordes,  if  yon  should  meet  them  on  the  prairies 
alone.  One  of  the  Bednins  came  into  our  car  and  asked  me  to 
take  a  picture  of  him.  I  went  out  with  him  and  took  a  snap-shot 
of  him  and  I  went  into  the  car.  Then  he  came  into  the  car  and 
wanted  to  have  a  picture.  And  when  I  did  not  give  him  any — 
and  how  could  I  do  it? — he  wished  to  take  away  my  camera  by 
force.  He  became  very  stubborn  and  I  had  to  chase  him  out  of 
the  car.  He  asked  me  to  print  his  picture  on  a  piece  of  paper 
that  he  gave  me.  That  much  the  poor  Beduin  understood  about 
photography. 

The  scenery  here  is  very  rich  and  romantic.  To  the  east  is 
the  mountain  range  of  Hauran,  and  to  the  northwest  is  the 
majestic  Hermon,  clearly  visible  from  this  plain.  To  the  south 
of  us  is  a  great  plateau,  and  beyond  this  the  mountains  of  Gilead 
extend  their  high  peaks  skyward.  On  this  plain  are  the  ruins 
of  many  cities  whose  names  are  mentioned  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
To  Bozra  you  can  go  in  about  six  hours.  A  very  old  road  from 
the  Roman  times  leads  to  that  historic  town.  It  is  one  of  the 
remarkable  cities  in  Hauran,  and  is  in  a  very  good  condition, 
especially  the  high  fortress  in  the  southern  part.  The  greatest 
period  in  the  history  of  this  metropolis  seems  to  have  been  the 
Roman  period.  When  the  Emperor  Trajan  set  out  on  his 
warlike  expedition  against  the  Parthians,  he  captured  it,  and  it 
became  a  capital  for  the  whole  territory  round  about.  It  became 
so  prominent  that  it  gave  occasion  for  a  new  era,  called  Era 
Bostriana.  It  was  in  vogue  east  of  the  Jordan,  and  began  with 
the  year  106  A.  D.  The  Christian  doctrine  was  introduced  very 
early  in  this  place.  Bozra  became  the  seat  of  a  bishop,  and  had 
at  one  time  not  less  than  twenty-three  sub-bishops.  The  city 
has  been  in  the  hands  of  the  Mohammedans  since  634  A.  D. 

We  are  now  in  a  territory  which  has  been  called  Decapolis, 
or  the  Ten  Cities.  Besides  Kenath,  mentioned  above,  the  follow- 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


ing  cities  belong  to  the  Decapolis :  Damascus,  Philadelphia, 
Gadara,  Gerasa,  Pella,  Hippos,  Dion,  Abila  and  Skythopolis  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Jordan.  At  11  o’clock  we  leave  Edrei  and 
start  out  on  the  naked  and  rolling  plain.  We  do  not  see  a  single 
tree;  everywhere  the  prairie  is  barren  and  desolate.  The  train 
follows  the  Wady  Zedy  in  a  northwesterly  direction.  Old  cara¬ 
van  roads  follow  the  railroad,  and  small  groups  of  camels  wander 
along  these  roads  back  and  forth.  After  a  while  Mt.  Gilead  rises 
very  majectically  to  the  southwest.  Soon  we  come  to  a  town. 
Our  train  turns  to  the  left  into  a  very  stony  country.  Here  are 
a  great  many  camels  marching  onwards  to  Edrei.  And  no 
wonder,  it  is  the  main  road  to  Mecca.  Still  we  have  Wady  Zedy 
to  the  left,  and  to  the  right  the  deep  Wady-Sikake.  These  two 
valleys  are  united  a  little  beyond  this  point.  The  caravan  roads 
are  found  on  both  sides  of  the  valley,  and  along  these  roads 
herds  of  goats,  sheep  and  asses  are  grazing  in  great  numbers. 
Our  train  runs  in  all  kinds  of  bends  and  crooks,  and  finally 
goes  down  in  a  deep  valley,  and  then  crosses  a  high  bridge. 
The  country  here  reminds  us  very  much  of  the  Alps,  and  is 
scenic  in  a  marked  degree.  High  mountains  rise  on  both  sides 
of  the  valley.  There  is  the  Jarmuk  River  down  in  the  valley,  but 
very  little  water  is  found  in  it  at  this  time. 

Our  train  is  speeding  along.  To  the  left  of  us  we  have 
Gilead,  and  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  lies  Gaulanitis.  The 
River  Jarmuk  is  the  boundary  line  between  these  countries. 
The  Arabs  call  this  valley,  in  which  the  river  flows,  Scheri  ’at 
Menadire,  after  the  Beduin  tribe,  Arab  el-Menadire.  As  we  are 
following  the  river  in  its  downward  course,  we  have  occasion 
to  see  quite  beautiful  waterfalls.  Along  the  river  there  are 
flocks  of  sheep,  and  we  notice  the  shepherds  with  their  two  staffs, 
one  long  and  one  somewhat  shorter.  This  reminded  me  of  what 
the  prophet  says:  “And  I  took  unto  me  two  staves,  the  one  I 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


called  Beauty,  and  the  other  I  called  Bands;  and  I  fed  the 

flock.”  (Zech.  11:7.)  Seeing  the  shepherds  and  their  flocks,  I 

thought  of  the  words  of  the  psalmist  David :  ‘  ‘  The  Lord  is  my 

shepherd ;  I  shall  not  want.  He  maketh  me  to  lie  down  in  green 

pastures:  He  leadeth  me  beside  the  still  waters.”  (Ps.  23:1-2.) 

But  why  would  it  be  necessary  to  have  two  staves?  For  the 

reason  that  there  are  wild  animals  that  would  come  into  the 

flock  to  kill  and  destroy,  and  the  shepherd  would  use  the  longer 

staff  to  drive  away  the  wild  animals,  and  the  smaller  one  he 

would  use  in  driving  the  lambs  to  green  pastures.  Some  one  has 
t  % 

said  that  the  longer  staff  signifies  the  doctrine  of  the  blessed 
Gospel,  which  gives  the  soul  sweet  peace  in  communion  with  the 
good  Shepherd ;  the  other  one  reminds  us  of  the  brotherly  cove¬ 
nant  which  will  be  established  where  there  is  a  proper  relation 
with  Christ.  For  those  who  do  not  wish  to  remain  in  communion 
with  the  Lord  and  His  people,  but  go  their  own  way,  this  staff 
will  become  a  punishing  or  chastening  rod.  The  parables,  taken 
from  the  shepherd’s  life  in  the  Orient,  are  very  numerous  and 
instructive.  They  express  the  intimate  relation  existing  between 
the  soul  and  the  Saviour,  and  this  relation  is  very  well  illustrated 
in  the  shepherd  life  of  the  Orient. 

Our  train  passed  down  this  romantic  valley  over  bridges 
and  through  dark  tunnels.  Here  and  there  are  pathways  leading 
up  to  the  plain.  We  are  now  in  the  western  part  of  the  mountains 
of  Gilead.  They  become  higher  and  the  wadys  deeper  and  deeper. 
We  are  approaching  the  Jordan  Valley  and  the  Jordan.  To  the 
left  of  us  is  old  Gadara,  the  capital  of  Perea.  It  is  situated  on 
a  plateau  to  the  south  east  of  the  Sea  of  Tiberias.  The  ruins 
that  are  now  to  be  seen  date  from  the  time  of  the  early  Roman 
emperors.  Among  other  objects  of  interest  there  are  the  ruins 
of  the  theatre  and  they  are  quite  well  preserved.  The  ruins 
of  Gadara  are  about  six  miles  from  Gennesaret,  and  are  very 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


interesting  from  many  points  of  view.  The  ancient  Gadara  has 
been  found  in  the  present  Uum  Keis  or  Mukes.  The  ruins  are 
located  on  the  top  of  a  hill,  and  at  the  foot  of  this  there  are 
warm  springs.  The  whole  vicinity  is  called  the  Land  of  the 
Gadarenes.  The  town  was  founded  and  occupied  by  Greeks, 
and  for  this  reason  it  is  called  a  Grecian  city.  Around  the  ruins 
of  the  old  city  there  are  a  great  many  sepulchres,  which  are 
cut  out  in  the  mountain.  Some  of  them  are  very  large,  and 
along  the  sides  of  these  subterranean  excavations  there  are  niches 
in  which  the  bodies  were  laid.  From  these  sepulchres  a  great 
many  sarcophagi  have  been  taken  and  these  have  been  adorned 
with  all  kinds  of  beautiful  ornaments.  At  present  these  sar¬ 
cophagi  are  used  as  water  troughs  for  the  cattle,  and  these  graves 
are  sometimes  used  as  dwelling-places  for  the  people.  When 
Christ  came  to  the  land  of  the  Gadarenes,  “  immediately  there 
met  him,  out  of  the  tombs,  a  man  with  an  unclean  spirit,  who 
had  his  dwelling  among  the  tombs ;  and  no  man  could  bind  him 
with  chains.”  (Mark  5:1-3).  These  tombs  served  as  dwelling- 
places  for  these  men,  who  were  possessed  with  unclean  spirits. 

Now  the  question  is  this:  Is  this  the  city  that  Jesus  visited, 
when  he  came  across  the  Sea  of  Gennesaret  in  a  boat  to  the  other 
side  of  the  sea?  Let  us  see.  The  synoptics  relate,  that  Jesus 
and  his  disciples  came  across  to  the  land  of  Gadarenes  (Matt.  8: 
28-34;  Mark  5:  120  ;  Luke  8:  26-38).  From  these  Scripture  pas¬ 
sages  we  learn,  first  of  all  from  Luke,  that  the  Gadarenes  were 
located  on  the  opposite  side  of  Galilee,  and  that  a  man  from 
‘‘the  city”  met  him.  The  evangelist  Matthew  informs  us  that 
there  were  two  that  met  Jesus,  and  furthermore,  that  they  came 
out  of  the  sepulchres  or  tombs.  When  the  man,  possessed  with 
the  unclean  spirit,  saw  Jesus,  he  cried  out,  fell  down  before 
him  and  prayed  that  he  might  not  torment  him.  The  evil  spirit 
asked  Jesus  that  he  might  send  them  into  the  swine,  “that  we 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


might  enter  them.”  This  herd  of  swine  numbered  about  two 
thousand,  and  according  to  the  evangelist  Luke,  they  were  feed¬ 
ing  on  the  mountains.  Now,  how  shall  we  be  able  to  unite  this 
into  one  story?  And  where  was  the  miracle  performed?  It  is 
clear  from  the  story  of  the  evangelist,  that  it  did  not  take  place 
right  near  the  city,  but  by  or  near  the  shore. 

The  land  of  Gadarenes  was  located  somewhat  to  the  south¬ 
east  from  the  sea,  and  from  this  fact  it  is  difficult  to  explain 
all  the  circumstances  in  connection  with  the  story.  To  the 
southeast  of  the  sea,  there  is  a  little  plain  along  the  shore,  and 
the  swine  could  not  very  well  throw  themselves  into  the  sea  at 
this  place.  Rut  there  is  another  place  further  north  along  the 
shore,  whither  the  man  could  have  come  from  the  tombs  of 
Gadara  to  the  sea.  The  miracle  took  place  in  the  land  of 
Gadarenes,  and  if  we  suppose  that  Jesus  and  his  disciples  landed 
a  little  further  to  the  north,  the  whole  story  about  the  miracle 
becomes  clear.  One  thing  is  certain,  and  that  is,  that  the  great 
Teacher  visited  this  section  of  the  country  and  performed  a 
miracle  here  somewhere. 

But  we  must  continue  our  journey.  It  is  in  the  afternoon 
of  the  15th  of  September,  when  our  train  rushes  along  the  valley 
of  Hieromax.  For  a  long  time  I  had  been  standing  on  the  right 
side  of  the  car,  watching  through  the  window  with  the  greatest 
attention  to  catch  the  first  glimpses  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  On 
our  train  were  many  Arabs,  some  of  them  dressed  in  fur  coats 
and  a  skin  cap  on  their  heads;  others  were  dressed  in  lighter 
garments  and  turbans.  I  could  not  understand  how  those  poor 
human  beings  could  sit  there  on  that  hot  day  with  those  fur 
coats  on.  It  was  so  warm  that  I  could  hardly  be  in  the  car 
that  afternoon.  But  there  they  sat,  holding  their  guns;  some 
fell  asleep,  others  were  walking  along  the  aisle  back  and  forth, 
and  I  had  to  get  out  of  the  way  for  those  dark  sons  of  Bashan. 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


They  did  not  understand  why  I  stood  at  the  window,  looking 
out  so  eagerly  over  the  hills  and  valleys  toward  the  northwest. 
But  soon  our  train  rolls  over  the  bridge  that  is  built  over  the 
Iiieromax  River.  As  the  train  is  turning  to  the  right,  it  hastens 
over  the  plain  to  the  south  of  Gennesaret,  and  within  a  few 
minutes  I  am  rewarded  for  my  patient  waiting  at  the  car  win¬ 
dow, — and  lo,  there  I  see  right  before  me  the  long-expected  Sea 
of  Galilee.  I  held  the  watch  in  mry  hand  and  it  was  2  :25  P.  M. 
It  is  impossible  for  me  to  describe  my  feelings  in  these  moments 
of  my  life.  There  was  the  sea,  and  as  my  eyes  looked  over  this 
historic  body  of  water  and  surroundings,  and  as  I  thought  of 
Him  who  walked  around  here,  teaching  and  performing  miracles, 
walking  over  the  billows,  I  received  such  an  impression  that 
I  can  never  forget  it.  No  wonder  that  my  eyes  were  filled  with 
tears  and  these  audible  words  fell  from  my  lips :  ‘  ‘  Thanks  be  unto 
Thee,  dear  Saviour,  that  I  have  been  permitted  to  live  until  I 
could  see  with  my  own  eyes  this  sea  and  its  surroundings !  ’  ’ 

All  the  passengers  on  the  train,  with  the  exception  of  Mr. 
Paul  Fisher  and  myself,  were  Arabs  or  Beduins  from  Bashan 
or  Galilee.  While  the  train  was  rolling  in  at  the  station  Samach, 
at  the  southern  end  of  the  sea,  I  stood  at  the  window  and  beheld 
this  picture.  And  how  beautiful  it  appeared  to  me !  How  could 
I  sit  careless  with  such  a  sight  before  me?  But  on  the  other 
side  of  the  car  Mr.  Fisher  was  sitting  in  a  seat  sleeping.  I  called 
on  him  to  come  and  see  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  but  he  manifested  no 
interest  whatever.  I  called  on  him  several  times  to  come  and 
see,  but  he  answered  :  ‘  ‘  Da  ist  nichts  zu  sehen  ’  ’  ( There  is  nothing 
to  see),  and  he  sat  calm  and  went  to  sleep.  It  was  more  than  I 
could  understand,  how  a  man,  bearing  the  name  of  a  Christian, 
could  show  so  little  interest  in  a  place  where  the  Saviour  of  man¬ 
kind  has  lived  and  taught.  Perhaps  the  young  man  did  not  know 

[  202] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


very  much  of  his  New  Testament,  and  that  would  in  a  measure 
account  for  his  little  interest  in  this  wonderful  country. 

As  soon  as  the  train  had  stopped,  I  rushed  out  with  my 
camera,  went  a  little  distance  to  the  north  of  the  station  and 
nearer  the  shore,  where  I  had  a  splendid  view  of  the  whole  lake, 
and  took  some  pictures.  I  could  not  stay  long  here  at  this  time, 
because  the  train  was  ready  to  go  on  in  a  few  minutes.  I  could 
not  look  on  this  wonderful  panorama  until  I  became  satisfied, 
and  I  determined  to  go  back  to  these  localities  again.  From 
Samach  there  is  a  splendid  view  of  the  sea,  and  you  can  see  the 
northern  end  and  Mt.  Hermon  very  distinctly.  Where  the 
River  Jordan  embouchures  into  the  sea  there  is  a  deep  valley,  and 
the  surrounding  hills  appear  quite  high.  To  the  northwest  of 
the  lake  on  a  mountain  we  see  the  city  of  Saphed ;  on  the  western 
shore  to  the  northwest  from  here  lies  the  city  of  Tiberias,  and 
on  the  northwestern  shore  of  the  lake  there  are  the  ruins  of 
Capernaum,  Bethsaida  and  Chan  Minje.  I  had  gotten  the  idea 
that  the  mountains,  coming  down  to  the  shores,  were  almost 
perpendicular,  but  that  is  not  the  case.  The  hills  and  mountains 
slope  towards  the  sea  very  gently,  and  here  and  there  are  plains 
along  the  shores.  It  was  a  glorious  sight,  and  having  once  seen 
it,  you  can  never  forget  it. 

Now  to  the  south  of  Samach  on  the  plain  right  by  Jordan 
the  Arabs  were  threshing — a  performance  I  had  never  seen 
before,  so  that  it  was  quite  novel  to  me.  The  sheaves  were  placed 
on  the  ground  in  a  circle,  and  they  drove  oxen  with  a  cart 
over  the  sheaves;  thus  they  continued  until  the  whole  became 
like  dross.  By  means  of  forks  they  threw  this  dross  into  the  air, 
and  the  wind  blew  away  the  chaff  and  left  the  grain  on  the  floor. 
Here  we  think  of  the  words  of  the  psalmist:  “The  ungodly  are 
not  so:  but  are  like  the  chaff  which  the  wind  driveth  away.” 
(Ps.  1:4.)  The  words  of  John  the  Baptist  came  to  my  mind: 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


11  Whose  fan  is  in  his  hand,  and  he  will  thoroughly  purge  his 
floor,  and  will  gather  his  wheat  into  his  garner;  but  the  chaff 
he  will  burn  with  fire  unquenchable.”  (Luke  3:  17).  It  was  the 
first  time  I  saw  how  they  went  at  it,  but  not  the  last.  The  thresh¬ 
ing  season  was  at  hand,  and  there  was  an  opportunity  to  see  it 
from  Dan  to  Gaza,  and  from  Edrei  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 

Now  when  we  continue  the  journey  along  the  Jordan  Valley, 
we  follow  the  plain  in  a  southwesterly  direction,  and  at  the 
western  edge  of  the  plain  the  railroad  crosses  the  river  and 
follows  the  valley  along  the  western  part.  The  heat  was  almost 
unbearable,  and  no  wonder,  because  this  valley  is  612  feet  below 
the  level  of  the  sea.  We  pass  an  old  stone  bridge  called  Djiser 
el-Mudjami  (Union  Bridge).  This  name  is  given  to  it  because 
near  by  is  the  union  of  the  two  rivers,  Hieromax  and  Jordan. 
We  are  now  on  the  western  side  of  the  river,  and  begin  to  ascend 
the  hills  and  come  to  the  ancient  city  of  Beth-shean,  which  is 
located  on  the  western  edge  of  the  Jordan  Valley,  on  a  little 
height  or  prominence,  from  which  there  is  a  splendid  view  of 
the  valley  and  the  mountains  of  Gilead  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Jordan.  Down  in  the  deep  Ghor  (cavity)  there  are  many  black 
Beduin  tents.  The  Beduins  come  near  the  river  in  the  dry 
season  so  as  to  have  easy  access  to  water  and  pasture  for  their 
flocks  and  cattle. 

The  dingy  town  of  Beisan,  or  Beth-shean,  is  located  at  a 
little  distance  from  the  station  to  the  southeast.  The  houses 
are  made  of  clay  and  stone,  and  are  low  and  rickety.  It  is 
located  on  the  creek  Jalud,  which  throws  itself  down  over  the 
precipice  and  into  the  Jordan.  The  location  is  quite  beautiful 
here  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  plain  of  Jezreel,  about  four  miles 
from  the  Jordan.  Beth-shean  was  located  within  the  tribe  of 
Manasseh  (I  Chron.  7:29),  though  it  belonged  to  Issachar. 
(Jos.  17:  11).  But  the  children  of  Manasseh  could  not  capture 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


this  locality,  and  the  Canaanites  remained  there.  (Jos.  17  :12.) 
During  the  time  of  King  Saul  they  seem  to  have  had  the  con¬ 
trolling  power,  for  we  read  that  the  Canaanites  hung  up  the 
dead  bodies  of  Saul  and  his  sons  on  the  walls  of  Beth-shean. 
Then  came  the  inhabitants  of  J abesh  in  Gilead,  having  walked  all 
night,  to  Beth-shean,  took  down  the  bodies  from  the  wall  and 
brought  them  to  Jabesh,  burnt  them  and  buried  them  under  a 
tamarisk  in  Jabesh.  (I  Sam.  31:10-13.)  Jabesh  is  located  on  the 
other  side  of  the  river  in  Gilead,  and  therefore  it  is  also  called 
Jabesh-Gilead.  The  men  from  Gilead  wished  to  return  the  good 
that  the  unfortunate  Saul  had  done  unto  them  in  past  days. 
During  the  reign  of  Solomon  the  children  of  Israel  owned  and 
controlled  the  city.  After  that  time  we  hear  nothing  of  it  until 
after  the  return  from  the  Babylonian  Captivity.  The  town  is 
called  Scythopolis.  The  historian  Josephus  informs  us  that  the  in¬ 
habitants  of  Scythopolis  massacred  13,000  Jews  who  lived  there, 
by  cutting  their  throats,  and  then  they  plundered  them.  A 
nefarious  act.  Scythopolis  belonged  to  the  Decapolis,  and  was 
quite  a  large  city  at  the  time  when  the  Romans  waged  the  war 
against  the  Jews.  Now  the  town  has  two  thousand  five  hundred 
inhabitants.  We  saw  a  great  deal  of  grass  on  the  roofs  of  the 
houses,  and  the  whole  town  gives  the  tourist  a  pitiable  impression. 
The  ruins  from  the  olden  times  are  not  very  numerous.  There 
are  parts  of  an  ancient  theatre,  rows  of  pillars,  two  old  bridges, 
and  some  tombs  cut  out  in  the  hill.  On  the  height  to  the  north 
of  the  ruins  of  the  theatre  there  is  a  very  good  view  of  the  plain 
of  Jezreel  and  the  Jordan  Valley.  On  the  other  side  of  the  river 
lies  the  ancient  town  of  Pellia,  to  which  the  Christians  fled  while 
Jerusalem  was  beleaguered  by  the  Romans  in  the  year  70  A.  D. 

We  did  not  stop  at  Beisan  very  long,  but  continued  west¬ 
ward  on  the  plain  of  Jezreel.  Now  we  come  into  a  very  historical 
locality,  rich  in  Bible  lore.  To  the  left  of  us  rises  the  Mt.  Gilboa, 

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and  further  west  to  the  right  the  Little  Hermon.  We  leave  all 
these  interesting  places  for  the  time  being,  until  we  shall  come  to 
them  again  on  our  way  to  the  northern  part  of  Galilee.  Let  us 
mention  only  a  few,  as  we  pass  along  on  the  train.  To  the  right 
of  us,  on  the  southwestern  slope  of  Little  Hermon,  is  the  ancient 
town  of  Sunem,  and  to  the  left  Jezreel,  the  capital  city  of  Ahab 
and  Jezebel.  The  railroad  passes  between  those  places  on  the 
plain.  As  we  pass  by  Sunem,  the  beautiful  Mt.  Tabor  comes  into 
view  towards  the  northeast.  To  the  southwest  of  the  mountain, 
Nazareth  lies  on  the  mountains  of  Galilee,  basking  in  the  sun, 
and  to  the  left,  Mt.  Carmel  rises  as  a  wall  towards  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean  Sea  and  Haifa.  As  we  approach  Carmel,  we  come  near 
the  brook  Kishon  also,  for  it  flows  at  the  foot  of  this  mountain. 
Surely  we  are  right  among  Biblical  places.  I  could  hardly  sit 
still  in  the  car,  but  continually  kept  looking  to  the  right  and 
left,  so  as  to  find  the  various  places  described  in  my  guide-book. 
I  felt  as  though  I  had  come  into  a  new  world,  and  how  could  I 
be  disinterested  in  a  Bible  country  like  Palestine?  On  such  a 
theme  it  is  impious  to  be  calm. 

Let  us  note  a  few  things  about  this  long  and  beautiful 
mountain  wall  to  the  left  of  us.  The  very  name  Carmel  means 
“park”  or  “place  full  of  trees,”  The  prophets  often  mention 
this  mountain  in  their  illustrations.  We  read  in  Isaiah  33:9: 
‘  ‘  The  earth  mourneth  and  languisheth :  Lebanon  is  ashamed  and 
hewn  down:  Sharon  is  like  a  wilderness,  Bashan  and  Carmel 
shake  off  their  fruits,”  and  in  Micah  7:14:  “Feed  thy  people 
with  thy  rod,  the  flock  of  thine  heritage,  which  dwell  solitarily 
in  the  wood,  in  the  midst  of  Carmel:  let  them  feed  in  Bashan 
and  Gilead,  as  in  the  days  of  old.  ’  ’  But  the  trees  on  Carmel  are 
very  nearly  gone.  Here  and  there  along  its  sides  there  are 
small  groves  of  trees,  but  they  are  quite  small.  There  are  some 
larger  trees  scattered  in  between,  but  they  are  very  few  and 

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there  are  sections  where  you  do  not  see  any  trees.  This  mountain 
was  located  within  the  border  of  Asher,  and  its  southeastern  end 
between  the  tribes  of  Sebulon  and  Manasse.  Carmel  is  five 
hundred  feet  high  at  its  northwestern  end  by  the  sea,  and  its 
greatest  height  further  inland,  seventeen  hundred  feet.  Its 
length  is  about  fifteen  miles,  and  extends  from  the  southeast 
to  the  northwest.  Along  the  sides  there  are  ravines  and  valleys, 
in  which  during  the  rainy  season  brooks  leap  down  to  the  plain 
below.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  rubbish  along  the  sides  of  the 
mountain,  and  this  makes  it  rather  hard  to  climb.  In  olden 
times  Carmel  was  covered  with  large  forests.  It  is  mentioned 
by  some  authors  of  the  Scriptures  as  an  emblem  of  beauty  and 
richness,  and  is  compared  to  Lebanon  and  Sharon :  ‘  ‘  The  wilder¬ 
ness  and  solitary  places  shall  be  glad  for  them;  and  the  desert 
shall  rejoice  and  blossom  as  a  rose.  It  shall  blossom  abun¬ 
dantly,  and  rejoice  even  with  joy  and  singing:  the  glory  of 
Lebanon  shall  be  given  unto  it,  the  excellency  of  Carmel  and 
Sharon,  they  shall  see  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  and  the  excellency 
of  our  God”  (Is.  35:1-2),  to  Gilead  and  Bashan  (Mic.  7:14),  to 
Sharon  and  Bashan  (Is.  33:9),  and  to  Tabor  (Jer.  46:18).  In 
the  Songs  of  Solomon  the  author  says :  ‘  ‘  Thine  head  upon  thee 
is  like  Carmel.”  (Songs  Sol.  7  :5.)  There  are  many  holes  on  the 
sides  of  the  mountain.  They  are  partly  natural  and  partly  dug 
by  men.  These  tomb-like  holes  have  been  places  of  refuge  in 
the  times  of  persecutions,  and  it  is,  perhaps,  this  circumstance 
which  gave  the  prophet  Amos  occasion  to  speak  of  them  in  this 
manner:  “And  though  they  hide  themselves  in  the  top  of  Carmel, 
I  will  search  and  take  them  out  thence,  and  though  they  be  hid 
from  my  sight  in  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  thence  I  will  command 
the  serpent  and  he  shall  bite  them.”  (Amos  9:3.)  One  of  these 
holes  is  yet  called  the  “Hole  of  the  Prophets,”  because  it  is 
thought  that  Ahab’s  governor  of  the  house,  Obadiah,  hid  the 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


prophets  here,  when  his  cruel  king  persecuted  them. 
(I  Kings  18:4.) 

Here  the  prophet  Elijah  performed  the  miracle  with  the 
sacrifice.  The  Tishbite,  Elijah,  one  of  the  immigrants  from 
Gilead,  said  unto  Ahab :  “As  the  Lord  liveth,  before  whom  I 
stand,  there  shall  not  be  dew  nor  rain  these  years,  but  according 
to  my  word.”  (I  King  17 :1.)  According  to  the  words  of  Elijah 
it  did  not  rain  for  three  years  and  six  months,  and  there  was  a 
great  famine  in  the  land  of  Israel.  And,  of  course,  Elijah  was 
compelled  to  shoulder  the  responsibility  and  the  blame  for  this 
great  drought  by  the  wicked  Ahab  and  his  equally  godless  Queen 
Jezebel.  Ahab  went  out  to  seek  pasture  for  his  horses  and  cattle 
by  brooks  and  springs.  Now  Elijah,  who  had  been  by  the  brook 
Cherith,  afterwards  at  Sareptah  in  the  house  of  the  poor  widow, 
and  there  experienced  the  providing  care  of  God,  when  the  oil 
in  the  cruse  did  not  diminish,  and  the  flour  in  the  barrel  of  meal 
did  not  waste,  came  forward  to  meet  his  idolatrous  king.  And 
when  the  king  saw  him,  he  said:  “Art  thou  he  that  troubleth 
Israel?”  (I  Kings  18:  17-18).  But  Ahab  soon  found  out  who 
was  the  cause  of  the  trouble.  Elijah  was  the  preacher  at  the 
court  in  Israel  and  did  not  hide  anything,  but  proclaimed  the 
truth  and  nothing  but  the  truth.  At  the  command  of  Elijah 
Ahab  gathered  together  the  prophets  of  Baal,  who  numbered 
four  hundred  and  fifty,  and  the  prophets  of  Ashtaroth,  four 
hundred,  who  did  eat  at  the  table  of  Jezebel;  and  before  these 
and  all  Israel  the  sturdy  prophet  said:  “How  long  halt  ye  be¬ 
tween  two  opinions?  If  the  Lord  be  God,  follow  Him:  but  if 
Baal,  then  follow  him.”  Here  before  all  the  people  he  wished 
to  ascertain  who  was  the  right  God.  They  arranged  two  altars, 
took  two  bulls,  divided  them  and  placed  the  pieces  on  the  wood, 
but  did  not  kindle  any  fire.  The  God  who  would  answer  with 
fire  from  heaven  would  be  the  true  and  living  God.  And  the 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


people  said:  4 ‘It  is  well  spoken.”  The  prophets  of  Baal  and 
Ashtaroth  were  given  the  first  chance,  but  there  was  no  answer 
with  fire  from  heaven.  At  noon-time  Elijah  mocked  them  and 
said :  ‘  ‘  Cry  aloud :  for  he  is  a  god,  either  he  is  talking,  or  he  is 
pursuing,  or  he  is  on  a  journey,  or  peradventure  he  sleepeth, 
and  must  be  awaked.”  (I  Kings  18:27.)  Then  Elijah  gathered 
the  people  together  and  arranged  for  the  sacrifice,  putting  water 
in  abundance  on  the  sacrifice  and  in  the  trench  around  the  altar. 
Then  the  prophet  prayed,  and  said,  among  other  things :  ‘  ‘  Hear 
me,  0  Lord,  hear  me  that  this  people  may  know  that  Thou  art 
the  Lord  God,  and  that  Thou  hast  turned  their  heart  back  again.  ’  ’ 
(I  Kings  18  :37.)  The  fire  came  down  from  heaven  and  consumed 
the  sacrifice,  and  the  wood,  and  the  stones  and  the  dust,  and 
licked  up  the  water  that  was  in  the  trench.  Then  the  people  said : 
“The  Lord,  He  is  the  God,  the  Lord,  He  is  the  God.” 

But  where  did  these  things  occur?  We  might  think  that 
they  happened  on  the  mountain  by  the  sea,  but  it  was  not  there, 
but  on  the  southeastern  end  of  the  ridge.  There  is  a  place  called 
Makkrakah,  or  place  of  sacrifice,  and  according  to  ancient  tradi¬ 
tion,  this  is  the  right  place.  If  they  did  not  get  the  water  from 
the  brook  Kishon,  they  could  have  gotten  it  from  a  well  or  spring, 
located  about  two  hundred  feet  from  the  Makkrakah.  It  is  said 
that  this  well  has  never  given  out  or  become  dry.  But  in  case 
it  might  have  done  so,  during  the  continued  drought,  they  could 
have  secured  all  the  water  necessary  from  the  Kishon,  only  thir¬ 
teen  hundred  feet  below  this  place  of  sacrifice. 

This  place  has  been  considered  holy  during  past  ages.  We 
read  that  Elijah  prepared  the  altars  that  had  been  torn  down. 
(I  Kings  18:30.)  It  was  without  doubt  Jezebel  who  tore  them 
down.  It  was  to  this  place  that  Tacitus  refers  in  the  history  of 
Vespasian,  when  he  says:  “Between  Syria  and  Judea  there  is 
a  mountain  called  Carmel,  on  whose  top  a  god  is  worshiped, 


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without  any  other  designation  than  the  place,  and  according 
to  an  old  custom  without  temple  or  statue.  An  altar  is  erected 
under  the  clear  sky,  and  there  they  worship  the  presiding  deity.  ’  ’ 
There  can  be  no  question  about  the  place  in  the  light  of  such 
testimony.  It  is  not  likely  that  tradition,  which  points  to  this 
place,  has  made  any  mistake. 

It  was  on  this  mountain  that  Elijah  called  down  fire  from 
heaven  over  the  captain  and  his  fifty  men,  who  had  gone  out  to 
bring  him  captive  to  the  king.  The  king  Ahaziah  during  the 
time  of  his  sickness,  sent  a  messenger  to  ask  the  god  of  Ekron, 
Baal-zebub,  if  he  would  recuperate  from  his  sickness  or  not. 
Then  the  prophet  went  out,  met  the  messengers,  and  told  them 
that  the  king  would  surely  die.  Then  the  king  sent  out  his  men 
and  they  were  consumed  by  fire.  (II  Kings  1:9-15.) 

Furthermore,  it  was  on  this  mountain  that  the  Shunamite, 
who  lived  at  Shunam,  on  the  other  side  of  the  plain  of  Jezreel, 
at  the  foot  of  the  Little  Hermon,  found  the  prophet  Elijah  and 
asked  him  to  come  with  her  and  resurrect  her  son. 
(II  Kings  4:25-37.) 

During  the  Middle  Ages  many  anchorites  lived  in  the  caves 
of  this  mountain.  A  certain  crusader  from  Calabria,  Berthold 
by  name,  gathered  a  number  of  monks  who  had  lived  there  for 
some  time  in  honor  of  Elijah,  and  laid  the  foundation  to  a  con¬ 
vent  in  1156 ;  and  in  this  way  the  order  of  Carmelites  arose.  It 
is  really  one  of  the  beggar  orders  of  monks,  which  the  Pope 
Honorius  III  sanctioned  in  1226.  A  patriarch  in  Constantinople, 
Albert  by  name,  established  some  regulations  for  this  order,  and 
according  to  these,  ‘  ‘  They  shall  live  by  the  works  of  their  hands 
and  be  silent.  ’  ’ 

Here  on  Carmel  Richard  the  Lion-Hearted  remained  for 
some  time  to  recuperate,  after  having  made  peace  with  Saladin 

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at  Jashur,  near  Jaffa,  September  2,  1192.  Here  the  sick  warriors 
of  Napoleon  remained  for  some  time.  The  convent  served  as  a 
hospital  while  he  beleaguered  Acco,  on  the  other  side  of  the  bay, 
in  1797.  During  the  war  of  the  Greeks  for  liberty  the  convent 
and  the  church  on  Carmel  were  destroyed  by  Pascha  Abd-allah 
from  Acco,  but  were  rebuilt  again  in  1828,  especially  through  the 
efforts  of  Giovanni  Batistas. 

It  was  the  15th  of  September  when  we  passed  along  the 
banks  of  the  brook  Kishon,  at  the  foot  of  Carmel ;  and  at  6  :15 
we  were  at  the  railroad  station  in  Haifa. 

Being  very  tired,  because  of  the  extended  journey,  we  rested 
during  the  evening.  We  were  again  close  to  the  shore  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  and  heard  how  the  billows  were  beating 
against  the  shore.  The  following  day  Mr.  Fisher  and  I  arose  quite 
early  to  ascend  the  mountain,  and  to  see  the  cloister  and  the 
chapel.  When  we  reached  the  convent  we  were  rewarded  by  the 
most  excellent  view  of  the  city  of  Haifa,  the  surroundings  and 
particularly  the  sea.  We  walked  around  the  buildings  and  took 
some  photos ;  and  then  the  prior  of  the  convent  came  out  and 
asked  us  very  kindly  to  come  in.  The  monks  received  us  in  a 
most  friendly  way.  They  spoke  French  and  English  quite  well. 
The  convent  is  built  in  Italian  style  with  a  great  cupola,  which 
is  visible  far  out  on  the  sea.  Here  the  mountain  is  about  five 
hundred  feet  high,  and  stoops  almost  perpendicularly  into  the 
sea.  A  little  to  the  northwest  from  the  main  building  there  is 
another  but  smaller  structure,  which  surrounds  the  foot  of  the 
lighthouse,  and  this  is  used  as  a  hotel  for  pilgrims.  Between 
this  building  and  the  convent  is  the  monument  over  the  graves 
of  soldiers,  and  this  has  the  form  of  a  pyramid.  When  Napoleon 
went  to  Egypt  in  1799,  he  left  some  soldiers  here,  after  the  siege 
of  Acco.  All  these  soldiers  were  massacred  by  the  Mohammedans. 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Here  under  this  monument  they  sleep  their  last  sleep,  waiting 
for  the  resurrection  day. 

Above  the  altar  in  the  church  adjoining  the  convent  is  a 
statue  of  Mary,  cut  out  of  wood,  with  the  Christ  child  at  her  side. 
The  statue  of  Mary  is  dressed  in  a  silk  dress,  and  on  her  head 
there  is  a  crown,  glittering  with  gold  and  jewels.  Below  the 
altar  is  the  grotto  of  Elijah.  This  grotto  is  about  fifteen  feet 
square,  and  is  arranged  as  a  chapel.  In  the  sacristy  is  a  kind 
of  altar-piece,  cut  out  of  woods,  and  this  shows  how  Elijah  killed 
the  prophets  of  Baal. 

Having  seen  all  these  things,  we  returned  to  the  sitting 
room,  where  the  monks  manifested  great  kindness  to  us  in  every 
way.  They  gave  us  coffee  and  cake  and  asked  us  to  take  dinner 
with  them.  But  our  time  was  quite  limited.  We  could  not 
accept  their  kind  invitation ;  and  having  given  our  good  monks 
bakschisch,  we  returned  to  Haifa.  When  we  had  arrived  at  the 
edge  of  the  mountain,  we  stopped  a  little  while  to  take  a  good 
look  at  Acco  on  the  other  side  of  the  bay.  Acco,  or  Acre,  can  be 
reached  by  horse  and  carriage,  and  it  takes  two  and  a  half  hours. 
The  vicinity  is  very  swampy.  It  was  here  that  Phoenician  sailors 
happened  to  discover  the  manufacture  of  glass.  This  town  is 
spoken  of  only  once  in  the  Old  Testament :  ‘  ‘  Neither  did  Asher 
drive  out  the  inhabitants  of  Accho,  nor  the  inhabitants  of  Zidon, 
nor  of  Ahlab,  nor  of  Ackzib,  nor  of  Helbah,  nor  of  Aphik,  nor 
of  Rehob.”  (Jud.  1:31.)  This  town  remained,  then,  in  the  pos¬ 
session  of  the  Canaanites.  In  later  times  it  is  called  Ptolemais. 
This  name  is  used  by  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans,  in  the  books 
of  the  Maccabees  and  in  the  New  Testament. 

When  Saint  Paul  returned  from  his  third  missionary  jour¬ 
ney  to  Jerusalem,  he  landed  in  Ptolemais,  greeted  the  brethren, 
and  remained  with  them  two  days.  (Acts  21:7.)  At  Ptolemais 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


was  a  bishopric  in  the  early  days  of  the  Christian  church,  and 
its  bishop  was  present  at  the  synod  of  Nice  in  325.  The  Arabs 
captured  the  town  in  638,  and  it  remained  in  their  possession 
until  1104,  when  the  Crusaders  captured  it.  Thus  the  history 
of  Ptolemais  is  full  of  changes.  It  was  taken  by  Saladin  in  1187, 
and  in  the  same  year  it  was  beleaguered  by  a  powerful  army  of 
the  Crusaders.  Outside  of  this  army  was  the  Mohammedan  host, 
and  now  a  two  years 7  conflict  arose  as  to  who  should  control  the 
city.  Richard  the  Lion-Hearted  and  Philip  August  came  to  the 
help  of  the  beleaguered,  and  the  city  was  taken  in  1191,  when 
300,000  Crusaders  and  180,000  Mohammedans  had  given  their 
lives.  Ptolemais  became  the  chief  seat  of  the  Knights  of  John 
and  other  knights,  and  from  this  time  on  the  town  is  called  Acre, 
or  according  to  the  full  name,  Jean  d’Acre.  This  was  the  last 
place  that  the  Crusaders  possessed  in  Syria.  They  lost  it  in  1291. 
Then  it  was  captured  by  the  Sultan  of  Egypt  and  Damascus, 
when  about  60,000  men  lost  their  lives,  6,000  were  sold  as  slaves, 
and  some  fled  over  the  sea  to  distant  lands.  The  Turks  captured 
Acre  in  1516,  and  since  that  time  a  great  many  changes  have 
taken  place  here.  There  are  now  in  it  about  10,000  inhabitants, 
and  they  carry  on  a  lively  trade  with  other  countries.  But  it  is 
constantly  declining,  because  Haifa  is  continually  growing  in 
importance. 

Perhaps  we  ought  to  say  something  about  Haifa,  before  we 
leave.  It  is  located  in  a  crescent-shaped  bay,  which  makes  the 
best  harbor  in  Palestine.  It  is  not  very  old,  but  has  of  late 
developed  very  fast  and  has  a  population  of  about  12,000  in¬ 
habitants.  The  German  colony  is  located  on  the  sea  to  the  west 
of  the  city,  and  about  six  hundred  persons  live  there.  They  have 
two  schools.  Of  these  one  belongs  to  the  Templar  church  and 
the  other  to  the  Evangelical.  They  carry  on  agriculture,  have 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


vineyards  and  a  great  number  of  cattle.  They  have  also  a  silk¬ 
weaving  establishment,  a  wind-mill  and  two  steam-mills.  Haifa 
has  two  mosques,  several  churches,  and  an  Armenian  cloister. 
The  Europeans  in  Haifa  present  a  splendid  object  lesson  of  the 
possibility  of  keeping  the  town  clean. 


[214] 


i 


Chapter  XI 


OVER  THE  PLAIN  OF  SHARON  TO  JAFFA 

THE  evening  I  arrived  at  Haifa  I  asked  a  dragoman  to  take 
take  me  through  the  northern  part  of  Palestine  or  Galilee. 
He  wanted  no  less  than  ten  dollars  a  day  for  six  days,  or  fifty 
francs  a  day.  I  told  him  this  was  too  much,  but  he  would  not 
come  down  in  his  price. 

In  the  meantime  an  Arab  had  offered  to  take  us  to  Jaffa 
for  fifty  francs.  When  we  had  traveled  about  three  hours,  we 
came  to  ruins,  quite  near  the  shore.  These  are  the  ruins  of  the 
old  Athlit  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  now  called  the  Castle  of  the 
Pilgrims.  This  place  was  an  important  fort  during  the  time  of 
the  Crusades,  and  the  last  the  Crusaders  could  keep  in  the  Land 
of  Promise.  It  was  taken  by  Sultan  Melik  el-Ashraf  in  1291. 
The  ruins  are  very  extensive  and  indicate  that  Athlit  must  have 
been  a  great  stronghold.  There  is  a  Jewish  colony,  founded  by 
Baron  Rothschild  of  Paris,  who  bought  the  place. 

Having  driven  a  little  further  south,  our  driver  had  to  give 
the  horses  rest  and  water.  This  he  did  at  a  well  by  the  roadside. 
Near  by  was  a  threshing  floor.  I  went  there  to  observe  how 
they  performed  this  work,  and  among  other  things  I  saw  the  way 
that  the  camels  laid  down  to  receive  their  burden  of  grain.  At 
the  command  of  the  fellaheen  the  camel  lies  down  and  is  then 
loaded.  He  is  told  to  get  up,  and  when  the  burden  is  too  heavy, 
he  groans  and  pretends  that  he  will  bite  his  master. 

After  two  hours’  drive  from  Athlit  we  arrived  at  Tantura. 
This  is  also  a  ruin  from  the  Middle  Ages  and  looks  very  much 


[215] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


like  Athlit.  Tantura  is  spoken  of  in  the  Scriptures  and  called 
Dor.  This  was  a  Canaanite  city,  and  its  king  made  a  covenant 
with  Joshua,  but  he  was  killed  in  battle  at  the  waters  of  Merom 
in  northern  Galilee.  (Jos.  11:2,  12;  12:23.)  When  division  was 
made  this  town  was  given  to  Manasseh,  but  the  children  of 
Manasseh  could  not  take  it.  In  the  time  of  Solomon  officers  were 
appointed  to  provide  food  for  the  king  and  his  household. 
Each  man  was  to  secure  provision  for  a  month.  Such  an  officer 
was  the  son  of  Abinada,  who  was  appointed  in  Dor,  and  was 
married  to  Taphath,  the  daughter  of  King  Solomon. 
(I  Kings  4:11.) 

Having  passed  by  these  ruins,  the  road  turns  to  the  left 
on  the  plain  of  Sharon.  The  mountain  extends  further  inland 
and  the  plain  becomes  wider.  It  is  quite  uneven  here  in  the 
northern  sections.  The  road  becomes  quite  steep  and  we  are 
among  hills  and  valleys.  At  last  we  came  to  a  Jewish  colony, 
called  Samarin.  Here  we  determined  to  stop  until  after  mid¬ 
night,  registered  at  Grand  Hotel  and  had  a  chance  to  rest  a 
while.  This  is  one  of  the  thirty-odd  colonies  that  the  Jews  in 
the  various  parts  of  Palestine  have  established  under  the  super¬ 
vision  of  Baron  Rothschild.  These  colonies  are  scattered  here 
and  there  all  over  the  country,  and  the  object  of  these  is  to 
prepare  homes  for  the  homeless  Jews  in  various  countries.  Hav¬ 
ing  rested  a  little  while,  we  went  out  with  a  young  student  from 
Beirut  to  take  a  look  at  the  vicinity.  It  was  a  very  beautiful 
evening.  The  sun  had  not  yet  set  below  the  waves  of  the  Medi¬ 
terranean  ;  the  rays  threw  a  radiant  glimmer  over  the  mountains 
of  Samaria,  and  the  Carmel  range  in  the  north.  On  the  distant 
hills  new  houses  were  being  built,  and  it  was  curious  to  see  how 
they  always  built  their  homes  on  the  heights. 

On  a  hill  to  the  southwest  from  Samarin  we  have  a  most 
excellent  view  of  Caesarea  by  the  sea,  about  eight  miles  distant. 

[216] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


I  had  brought  along  my  field  glass,  and  could  see  the  ruins  very 
clearly.  To  me  it  looked  to  be  only  about  a  stone’s  cast,  where 
the  foaming  waves  were  beating  against  the  old  ruins. 

Along  the  coast  of  Palestine  there  is  no  good  harbor.  The  best 
one  is  at  Haifa.  The  harbors  at  Dor,  Tantura,  Accho,  and  Jaffa 
are  very  poor.  Because  of  this  Herod  determined  to  build  a 
harbor  where  the  vessels  could  find  a  safe  refuge  from  the  storms 
that  so  often  beat  against  this  naked  and  barren  coast.  This  is 
why  he  built  the  city  of  Caesarea.  The  work  began  in  the  twenty- 
eighth  year  of  his  reign,  i.  e.  22  B.  C.  Where  he  began  to  rear 
the  city  was  a  fishing  place  called  Straton’s  Tower.  Here  he 
built  a  harbor  and  wished  to  protect  the  ships  from  the  south 
and  west  wind.  It  proved  to  be  a  great  task.  Josephus  informs 
us  that  stones  were  sunk  to  a  depth  of  120  feet.  This  wall,  built 
in  the  form  of  a  circle,  was  200  feet  wide,  and  all  along  there 
were  towers  and  buildings  erected  on  it.  The  most  prominent 
tower  was  called  Druseum,  to  the  memory  of  Drusus,  Caesar’s 
brother-in-law.  Besides  this  protective  wall,  Herod  built  a 
temple  and  palaces,  beautifying  the  city  in  every  way.  The  city 
was  called  Caesarea  Sebastje,  in  honor  of  Caesar  Augustus.  After 
ten  years  the  city  was  ready,  and  now  great  festivities  followed, 
according  to  Roman  custom.  These  dedication  festivities  showed 
the  trend  of  the  times.  Here  they  had  games  and  races  in  which 
naked  people  partook;  here  men  and  animals  fought  for  the 
mastery,  and  the  spirit  of  wild  heathenism  was  let  loose  to  the 
pleasures  of  the  public.  In  such  a  way  this  capital  of  Palestine 
was  dedicated.  From  a  religious  point  of  view  Jerusalem  was 
the  capital  of  the  land,  but  Caesarea  was  the  real  capital  city. 
There  were  about  200,000  inhabitants  here  in  the  days  of  its 
greatest  prosperity. 

Caesarea  is  often  mentioned  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 
Cornelius,  a  centurion  of  the  Italian  band,  lived  here.  He  was 

[217] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


a  man  that  feared  God,  with  all  his  house,  and  gave  much  alms 
to  the  people,  and  prayed  to  God  always.  (Acts  10:2.)  This 
heathen  centurion  puts  many  a  Christian  in  the  shadow  by  his 
fear  of  God  and  his  self-sacrificing  spirit.  Through  the  apostle 
Peter  he  found  the  way  of  salvation,  and  became  the  first  fruit 
from  the  heathen  world.  0,  that  we  could  say  of  all  those  who 
have  the  Christian  name,  that  they  are  praying!  Yonder  where 
the  ruins  are,  by  this  coast,  this  man  had  his  home.  Here  he 
sought  and  found  the  truth.  Down  there  somethere  is  the  place 
where  Herod  Agrippa  stood  when  he  delivered  a  speech  to  the 
Tyrians  and  the  Sidonians.  Then  the  people,  the  fickle  crowd, 
cried  out :  ‘  ‘  It  is  the  voice  of  a  god,  and  not  of  a  man.  ”  “  Imme¬ 
diately  the  angel  of  the  Lord  smote  him  and  he  was  eaten  of 
worms,  because  he  did  not  give  God  the  glory.”  (Acts  12:20-23.) 

When  Paul  went  to  Tarsus  from  Jerusalem  in  the  year  38, 
and  when  he  returned  from  the  third  missionary  journey  in  the 
year  58,  he  landed  here  and  visited  the  deacon  Philip.  (Acts 
21:8,  12.)  Then  again  when  he  was  taken  captive  in  Jerusalem 
and  was  brought  to  Caesarea,  he  was  kept  a  prisoner  here  for  the 
space  of  two  years.  Here  he  defended  his  case  in  a  masterly 
way  before  the  governor,  Felix,  Festus,  and  King  Agrippa  II. 
(Acts  24:  10-21;  26-29.)  Here  was  the  seat  of  the  governor, 
and  only  at  the  great  festivals  he  went  up  to  Jerusalem.  When 
Jerusalem  was  captured  by  Titus  and  destroyed,  70  A.  D., 
Caesarea  became  the  only  capital  of  Palestine.  Here  was  the  seat 
of  a  metropolitan  bishop,  who  had  twenty  bishops  in  his  bishop¬ 
ric.  Even  the  patriarch  of  Jerusalem  was  subordinate  to  the 
bishop  of  Caesarea  until  451,  when  the  synod  of  Chalcedon  was 
held.  Here  the  prominent  bishop,  the  church  historian,  Eusebius 
(340),  was  born,  here  he  labored  so  diligently  to  the  end  of  his 
days,  and  here  the  church  father  from  Egypt,  Origen,  was  put 
to  fearful  tortures  in  the  Decian  persecution  during  the  middle 


[218] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


of  the  third  century.  He  survived  his  tortures  three  years  and 
died  at  Tyrus  in  254. 

Think  of  the  changes  and  vicissitudes  that  have  taken  place 
on  this  shore !  For  a  long  time  Caesarea  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
Christians,  but  the  Mohammedans  have  taken  this  stronghold 
from  them  just  as  many  times  as  they  have  captured  it.  Quite 
recently  a  colony  from  Bosnia  has,  been  established  near  by. 
This  colony  has  built  several  new  houses  and  used  the  ruins  of 
the  palace  of  Herod  the  Great.  Here  these  ruins  lie  and  bear 
testimony  to  the  truth  that  all  is  vanity.  When  King  Herod, 
with  his  cruel  taskmasters,  was  building  his  magnificent  palaces 
on  this  storm-beaten  shore,  he  did  not  surmise  that  coming 
generations  who  would  send  their  tourists  to  this  coast,  would 
find  it  very  difficult  to  walk  around  here  among  the  ruins  of 
his  mighty  capital.  Proud  Herod  could  build,  but  his  monu¬ 
ments  are  fallen  to  the  ground,  never  to  rise  again.  Even  in 
this  respect  the  dear  old  Book  has  spoken  the  truth  and  nothing 
but  the  truth.  We  would  be  very  short-sighted  if,  in  all  these 
ruins,  we  were  not  able  to  read  His  decisions,  who  has  placed  a 
limitation  for  man  and  his  work  and  written  thereon :  ‘  ‘  Hitherto, 
but  no  further!” 

Having  had  our  supper,  we  went  to  the  synagogue  to  attend 
the  evening  prayer.  The  fact  is  that  these  colonies  look  just 
like  a  small  town,  and  here  the  people  live  along  the  streets  in 
very  good-looking  houses.  They  have  their  fields  and  pastures 
quite  a  distance  from  the  village  and  live  together,  because  they 
wish  to  be  in  a  position  to  defend  themselves  against  the  attacks 
of  the  Beduins.  These  colonies  are  not  very  well  kept.  The 
people  in  these  sections  are  not  very  cleanly  either.  They  have 
come  to  the  land  of  their  fathers  from  Russia,  Germany,  and  other 
countries  of  Europe.  Some  have  returned  to  their  country 
again,  inasmuch  as  they  could  not  feel  at  home  in  the  Land  of 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Promise.  In  this  colony  there  are  two  synagogues.  The  one  is 
Reformed,  the  other  Orthodox.  Evening  prayer  is  held  in  both 
of  these  synagogues.  Together  with  the  student  from  Beirut 
I  went  into  the  Orthodox  to  see  how  they  conducted  their  re¬ 
religious  exercises,  and  I  found  it  very  interesting.  The  prayer 
had  already  begun  when  we  entered.  Th  synagogue  was  full  of 
people.  Before  an  altar  a  rabbi  stood  with  his  back  turned 
towards  the  people,  and  sang  the  evening  prayer  in  the  Hebrew 
Bible.  Sometimes  they  read  and  sang  responsively,  and  some¬ 
times  they  talked  among  themselves  in  the  pews.  All  had  their 
hats  on,  some  of  the  boys  had  a  regular  “picnic”  during  the 
devotional  exercises,  and  there  was  quite  a  noise.  I  had  never 
heard  such  an  evening  prayer  before.  It  was  very  annoying 
and  disturbing  to  hear  them  talk  while  the  rabbi  was  reading 
from  the  Scriptures.  Above  the  altar  these  words  are  written 
in  Hebrew,  “The  Lord  our  God  is  one,”  and  below,  “Know 
before  whom  you  are  standing.”  After  the  prayer  some  an¬ 
nouncements  were  made  and  so  the  meeting  was  over.  While 
I  was  sitting  there  with  my  cap  on — the  boy  who  came  with  me 
told  me  not  to  take  off  the  cap — I  thought  of  the  great  Jew,  Saint 
Paul,  who  preached  Christ  in  the  synagogues  of  his  countrymen. 
If  the  Jews  to  whom  he  spoke  were  as  negligent  and  careless  as 
the  Jews  seemed  to  be  in  the  synagogue  at  Samarin,  it  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at  that  he  preached  repentance  the  way  he  did. 

In  the  colony  there  were  about  eight  hundred  persons  and  they 
seemed  to  be  satisfied  with  their  lot  and  thrive  pretty  well.  We 
went  to  bed  quite  early,  as  we  were  to  arise  at  2  A.  M.  to  get 
over  the  plain  of  Sharon  and  reach  Jaffa  at  12  o’clock  the  fol¬ 
lowing  day.  Our  Arab  servant  told  us  when  to  get  up,  and  had 
breakfast  ready  for  us;  but  at  this  early  hour  we  could  not 
eat  very  much.  Having  given  bakschisch  to  the  servant,  we 
started  off  in  the  darkness  at  2:15  in  the  morning.  It  seemed 

[220] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


rather  strange  to  me  to  start  out  at  this  hour,  since  we  had  to 
pass  by  several  Beduin  camps  in  the  night.  On  the  plain  of 
Sharon  there  are  only  Beduins  and  Fellaheen,  and  they  are  not 
so  very  kindly  disposed  towards  travelers ;  and  in  the  dark  night 
they  had  all  kinds  of  chances  to  do  us  harm  if  they  wished  to 
do  so. 

We  felt  somewhat  sleepy,  but  the  Arab  driver  was  very 
much  awake  and  used  his  whip  quite  diligently.  He  drove  over 
the  hills  and  through  the  valleys  so  that  the  sparks  were  flying 
around  the  wheels. 

Now  we  are  out  on  the  plain  of  Sharon,  and  yet  it  is  not  a 
regular  plain,  but  very  rolling.  Of  course,  we  could  not  see 
anything  in  the  dark  night,  but  we  could  get  an  idea  from  the 
motions  of  the  carriage  up  and  down.  Along  the  road  we  heard 
the  Beduins  awake  and  engaged  in  conversation,  and  here  and 
there  we  saw  their  campfires.  I  had  no  idea  how  we  were  to  get 
through,  but  I  left  all  in  the  hands  of  the  Lord  and  thought, 
‘  ‘  He  will  protect  me  as  He  has  done  up  to  this  time.  ’  ’  Out  west 
we  heard  how  the  billows  roared  against  the  rocky  beach.  The 
dogs  of  the  Beduins  were  also  awake,  and  the  jackals  made  a 
fearful  noise  as  they  roamed  about,  seeking  their  food.  This 
romantic  night  I  shall  never  forget. 

From  Haifa  we  had  brought  along  an  Arab  who  was  going 
out  on  the  plain  of  Sharon  to  some  of  his  friends.  About  three 
o’clock  in  the  morning  he  left  the  carriage.  He  went  out  among 
the  bushes,  spoke  to  some  one  and  was  answered  immediately. 
We  understood  that  he  was  expected.  It  is  a  peculiarity  of  the 
Beduins  that  they  seem  to  be  up  and  busy  all  night.  No  matter 
how  early  you  rise,  you  will  see  them  sneaking  around,  doing 
something.  It  would  certainly  be  a  daring  feat  to  travel  alone 
on  this  plain  without  proper  protection. 


[221] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


About  five  o  ’clock  in  the  morning  we  came  to  a  little  village, 
and  before  we  arrived  at  the  outskirts  our  driver  stopped  and 
lighted  the  lamps  in  the  carriage.  I  wondered  why  he  did  that, 
but  found  out  later  that  he  wished  to  protect  us  from  an  attack 
of  the  Beduins  in  the  village.  They  could  see  by  our  burning 
lamps  that  we  were  no  robbers,  but  honorable  people,  and  thus 
they  would  have  no  fear  of  being  attacked. 

Now  the  dawn  began  to  appear  over  the  mountains  of 
Samaria.  At  half-past  five  we  drove  in  at  a  place  that  looked 
just  like  a  hotel.  Here  we  stopped  awhile  and  rested  our  poor 
horses.  One  of  the  horses  was  almost  gone.  The  driver  bathed 
him  with  cold  water  and  gave  him  feed,  which  he  had  brought 
along,  and  in  a  little  while  we  were  ready  to  go  on.  The  place 
is  called  Tull  Karm.  Now  we  drove  in  a  southwesterly  direction 
and  drew  nearer  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  We  were  still  quite 
a  few  miles  from  the  coast.  The  ‘ 4  plain  ’  ’  was  quite  uneven  here, 
valleys  and  hills  following  one  another. 

We  were  then  on  the  plain  of  Sharon  and  reminded  our¬ 
selves  of  the  lilies,  of  which  the  Bible  speaks  in  such  glowing 
terms.  Where  are  they  now?  We  cannot  see  any.  They  are 
gone,  and  there  are  no  flowers  at  this  time.  The  valleys  and 
hills  are  very  dry,  and  give  a  rather  poor  pasture  to  the  flocks 
of  the  Beduins,  as  they  roam  around  here.  We  continued  our 
drive  to  Jaffa  along  the  old  caravan  road. 

While  we  are  moving  along  the  plain,  which  becomes  more 
even  and  fruitful  as  we  draw  nearer  Jaffa,  we  think  of  what  the 
old  Book  tells  us  regarding  this  historic  section  of  Palestine. 
Sharon  is  mentioned  five  times  in  the  Old  Testament  and  only 
once  in  the  New.  (I  Chron.  27:29;  Is.  33:9;  35:2;  Songs  of 
Sol.  2:1.)  On  this  extensive  plain  King  Solomon  used  to  feed  his 
cattle,  and  the  prophet  Isaiah  laments  the  devastation  which  the 
Assyrians  have  wrought  here :  ‘  ‘  The  earth  mourneth  and 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


languisheth :  Lebanon  is  ashamed  and  hewn  down :  Sharon  is 
like  a  wilderness,  and  Bashan  and  Carmel  shake  off  their  fruits.” 
(Is.  33:9.)  But  in  days  to  come  Sharon  shall  blossom  as  a  lily. 
The  same  prophet  tells  of  its  coming  beauty  in  this  way:  “The 
wilderness  and  solitary  places  shall  be  glad  for  them ;  and  the 
desert  shall  rejoice,  and  blossom  as  a  rose.  It  shall  blossom 
abundantly,  and  rejoice  with  joy  and  singing:  the  glory  of 
Lebanon  shall  be  given  unto  it,  the  excellency  of  Carmel  and 
Sharon,  they  shall  see  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  and  the  excellency 
of  our  God.”  (Is.  35:1-2.)  But  this  plain  has  become  mostly 
renowned  by  the  Songs  of  Solomon,  who  speaks  of  the  rose  in 
Sharon,  and  describes  it  as  an  emblem  of  beauty,  which  he  would 
find  in  his  dear  Shulamith. 

In  the  winter  time  this  plain  is  very  beautiful.  There  are 
then  flowers  all  over,  and  a  most  excellent  view  then  greets  the 
tourist.  But  lo,  in  the  southwest  there  is  something  white  along 
the  shore.  It  is  heaps  of  sand,  which  the  winds  have  carried 
inland,  and  there  they  lie  as  snowdrifts.  And  what  do  we  see 
further  on?  Orchards.  We  are  drawing  near  Jaffa.  There 
they  raise  tropical  fruits  of  all  kinds,  and  everything  looks  so 
inviting.  The  oranges  are  not  yet  ripe,  but  are  green,  and  so 
is  the  rest  of  the  fruit  along  the  road.  Pretty  soon  we  see  the 
towers  and  minarets  and  at  last  the  houses  are  seen  between  the 
fruit  trees.  Our  driver  is  pushing  the  poor  horses  along  as 
though  he  were  wild.  Soon  we  are  on  the  streets  of  Jaffa.  Our 
Arab  coachman  must  have  bakschish ;  we  give  it  to  him  and 
away  he  goes.  At  last  we  are  in  Jaffa.  This  time  our  visit  in 
Jaffa  was  very  limited,  but  we  came  to  this  interesting  place  on 
three  other  occasions,  and  we  might  leave  the  description  of  the 
place  until  later  on.  Here  on  this  coast  most  of  the  pilgrims 
who  visit  the  Holy  Land  make  their  landing,  and  who  can  tell 
how  many  thousands  have  placed  their  feet  on  the  sacred  soil 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


for  the  first  time  during  the  past  centuries?  I  thanked  God, 
who  had  given  me  His  kind  protection  and  followed  me  so  far 
that  I  was  now  ready  to  “go  up  to  Jerusalem.”  In  the  next 
chapter  we  shall  relate  our  experiences  on  our  way  to  that  sacred 
place. 


I  224  J 


Chapter  XII 


TO  THE  HOLY  CITY 

WHILE  we  were  waiting  for  the  train,  which  was  to  leave 
at  two  o’clock  in  the  afternoon,  we  walked  around  the 
station  to  become  somewhat  acquainted  with  the  location.  Now 
we  were  ready  to  board  the  train.  The  second-class  coaches  are 
quite  good,  and  the  passengers  are  ordinarily  respectable.  Al¬ 
though  very  tired  of  the  journey  over  the  plain,  I  became  quite 
strong  and  enthusiastic  at  the  thought  that  I  was  going  to  the 
Holy  City.  “We  go  up  to  Jerusalem,”  came  continually  to  my 
mind,  and  I  could  hardly  believe  that  this  was  true.  During 
my  journeys  1  had  had  the  idea  of  making  Jerusalem  the  central 
point  of  my  travel  in  the  Land  of  Promise,  and  with  this  city 
as  my  last  goal,  it  was  no  wonder  that  I  felt  quite  interested. 
On  the  train  there  were  a  great  many  passengers,  but  I  almost 
forgot  that  there  was  anyone  else  in  the  car,  because  all  along 
the  road  there  are  a  number  of  Biblical  places,  and  I  must  learn 
something  about  them. 

To  begin  with,  the  train  goes  in  a  northeasterly  direction 
between  heaps  of  sand,  which  the  storms  have  carried  hither 
from  the  beach.  In  a  few  minutes  we  pass  by  the  German  colony 
to  the  right  of  the  railroad.  This  colony  was  founded  in  1868  by 
Christoffer  Hoffman  and  his  followers  from  Wiirtemberg,  who 
united  with  him.  This  is  one  of  the  Templar  colonies,  of  which 
there  are  a  great  many  in  Palestine.  In  this  colony  there  is  a 
Lutheran  church  and  a  school.  Another  colony  of  the  same 
nature  is  located  about  forty-five  minutes’  journey  to  the  north- 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 

east  of  the  city.  When  we  had  come  about  half  way  to  this 
home  of  the  Templars,  the  train  turned  in  a  southeasterly  direc¬ 
tion  on  the  plain  of  Sharon.  There  was,  to  the  right,  a  Jewish 
colony  with  an  agricultural  school  containing  about  three  hun¬ 
dred  students.  Near  by  is  a  fellaheen  village  called  Jashur. 
According  to  tradition  Samson  caught  his  foxes  at  this  place, 
took  firebrands,  turned  tail  to  tail,  and  put  a  firebrand  in  the 
midst  between  two  tails,  and  let  them  go  into  the  standing  corn 
of  the  Philistines.  In  this  way  he  burnt  up  the  shocks  and  also 
the  standing  corn  with  the  vineyards  and  olives.  (Jud.  15:4.) 
Here  in  this  village  stood  the  temple  of  Dagon,  in  which  the 
Philistines  fastened  the  head  of  Saul  when  they  had  cut  it  off 
on  the  mount  of  Gilboa.  (I  Chron.  10:  10). 

Quite  a  distance  on  the  level  plain,  and  we  are  at  El-Lud, 
the  old  Lydda.  After  the  Babylonian  captivity  some  men  of 
Benjamin  lived  here.  At  that  time  the  place  was  called  Lod. 
(I  Chron.  8 :12.)  In  the  New  Testament  times  Peter  here  healed 
the  man  sick  with  palsy.  ‘  ‘  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  Peter  passed 
through  all  the  quarters,  he  came  down  also  to  the  saints  which 
dwelt  at  Lydda.  And  there  he  found  a  certain  man  named 
Aeneas,  which  had  kept  his  bed  eight  years,  and  was  sick  of 
palsy.  And  Peter  said  unto  him,  Aeneas,  Jesus  Christ  maketh 
thee  whole :  arise  and  make  thy  bed.  And  he  arose  immediately. 
And  all  that  dwelt  at  Lydda  and  Sharon  saw  him  and  turned 
to  the  Lord”  (Acts  9  :  23-25).  Josephus  informs  us  that  Cestus 
Gallus  burnt  this  town.  (Jos.  Ant.  14:12:5.)  Afterwards  it  was 
rebuilt  and  the  inhabitants  delivered  themselves  without  re¬ 
sistance  into  the  hands  of  Vespasian,  68  A.  D.  People  from  other 
places  moved  into  Lydda  and  it  grew  again  to  some  prominence. 
During  the  time  of  the  Romans  it  was  called  Diospolis,  i.  e.  the 
city  of  Jupiter.  In  the  Christian  times  it  contained  the  seat 
of  a  bishop,  and  a  synod  was  held  here  415.  According  to  an 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


ancient  tradition  St.  George  was  a  prince  from  Cappadocia  and 
he  killed  a  great  snake  which  was  about  to  kill  the  princess  Aja. 
This  George  is  said  to  have  died  as  a  martyr  during  the  Diocle¬ 
tian  persecution.  According  to  another  legend  Lydda  is  the 
birthplace  of  this  St.  George,  and  a  splendid  church  was  built 
here  in  his  honor.  When  the  first  Crusade  came  to  Palestine, 
this  church  was  destroyed  by  the  Mohammedans,  1099.  The 
Crusaders  chose  George  as  their  patron  saint  and  rebuilt  the 
church.  When  the  regime  of  the  Crusaders  came  to  an  end, 
the  church  was  again  torn  down  and  for  a  long  time  there  were 
heaps  of  ruins  here.  Over  the  crypt,  where  Saint  George  is  said 
to  have  been  buried,  the  Mohammedans  have  built  a  mosque. 
This  is  located  in  the  southern  part  of  Lydda.  From  the  station 
the  town  is  scarcely  visible,  because  of  a  thick  olive  grove,  which 
extends  over  the  plain. 

At  a  little  distance  from  Lydda  is  Ramie.  This  is  our  next 
station  and  is  a  city  of  about  5,000  inhabitants,  of  whom  the 
most  are  Mohammedans.  Ramie  is  located  on  a  sandy  plain, 
and  hence  the  name,  which  means  sandy.  During  the  Crusades 
there  was  a  bishopric  here.  The  great  mosque  was  a  church  from 
the  time  of  the  Crusaders.  Here  is,  then,  another  one  of  those 
churches  which  the  Mohammedans  transformed  into  a  mosque. 
Another  object  of  interest  is  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the 
city.  It  is  a  tower,  which  formerly  belonged  to  a  mosque,  since 
fallen  to  pieces.  This  was  built  in  1319  by  the  Egyptian  Sultan 
Mohammed  En-Nazir  to  the  memory  of  his  son. 

The  city  of  Ramie  is,  according  to  some  authors,  the  Ari- 
mathcea  from  which  Joseph  came;  he  who  gave  his  grave  to 
the  Master  to  be  buried  in.  (Matt.  27  :57.)  Several  authors,  and 
among  them  Hierome  in  his  “Paulas’  Journey,”  inform  us  that 
Arimathoea  was  not  far  from  Lydda.  Others  have  objected  to 
this  assertion,  but  the  testimony  of  Hierome  in  the  fourth  cen- 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


tury  cannot  so  easily  be  brushed  aside.  It  is  likely,  if  not  ab¬ 
solutely  proven,  that  Arimathcea  is  discovered  in  the  present 
Ramie. 

At  this  place  the  railroad  crosses  the  road  leading  from  J aff a 
to  Jerusalem.  To  the  left  on  a  hill  yon  see  a  village  called 
Abusehusche.  Here  is  the  location  for  the  Canaanite  city  Gezer. 
About  this  we  read  that  “King  Pharaoh  of  Egypt  had  gone  up 
and  taken  Gezer,  and  burnt  it  with  fire,  and  slain  the  Canaan- 
ites  that  dwelt  in  that  city,  and  given  it  for  the  present  unto 
his  daughter,  Solomon’s  wife.”  (I  Kings  9  :  16).  Quite  recently 
the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund  has  made  excavations  here 
under  the  leadership  of  Prof.  Macalister ;  anyone  who  is 
interested  in  this  work  may  procure  “Sidelight  on  the  Bible 
from  the  Mound  of  Gezer,”  recently  published  by  the  Palestine 
Exploration  Fund. 

As  we  proceed,  we  observe  to  the  right  of  the  road  the 
agricultural  colony  Akir,  founded  by  Baron  Rothschild.  Here 
was  the  ancient  Ekron  (Jos.  13:3,  15;  15:45-46.)  When  we 
came  to  the  station  Sedjed  in  Wady  es-Sarar,  or  the  valley  of 
Zorah,  we  observed  to  the  right  of  the  road  a  fellaheen  village 
by  the  name  Ain  Schemesh,  the  ancient  Beth  Schemesh,  the 
City  of  the  Sun,  of  which  we  read  in  the  Scriptures.  During 
the  last  days  of  Eli,  the  high  priest  and  judge  in  Israel,  the 
ark  of  the  covenant  was  brought  from  Shiloh  to  the  battlefield 
of  Eben-Ezer.  The  Philistines  captured  the  ark  of  the  covenant, 
and  there  was  a  great  loss  for  Israel  that  day.  The  Philistines 
brought  the  ark  to  Ashdod  and  placed  it  in  their  temple  by  their 
god  Dagon.  Now  these  Philistines  did  as  many  a  nominal 
Christian  is  doing  even  nowadays.  They  are  trying  to  worship 
the  living  God,  but  they  are  serving  idols  besides,  although  it  is 
very  clear  from  the  word  of  God  that  Christ  and  Baal  cannot 
be  reconciled.  Nevertheless  it  is  very  hard  for  them  to  give  up 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


certain  sins — sins  which  they  do  not  wish  to  consider  as  sins ; 
for  instance,  drunkenness,  unchastity,  dancing,  and  card  play¬ 
ing,  and  many  kindred  sins.  Many  of  them  are  people  who  go 
to  church  on  Sunday  and  attend  communion,  but  if  they  are 
called  upon  to  give  up  their  pet  sins,  they  become  very  much 
irritated,  and  demand  to  have  the  reason  why  they  should  be¬ 
come  so  puritanical.  Now  what  are  they  doing,  but  trying  to 
place  Christ  beside  Baal,  or  the  ark  of  the  Lord  in  the  temple 
of  Dagon? 

In  this  connection  we  might  remind  ourselves  that  the  ark 
of  the  covenant  gave  occasion  to  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  so  that 
they  were  compelled  to  bring  it  back.  They  made  a  cart,  took 
two  milch  kine,  on  which  there  hath  come  no  yoke,  and  tied  the 
kine  to  the  cart  and  shut  up  their  calves  at  home,  and  the  cows 
brought  the  ark  of  the  covenant  back  to  the  land  of  Israel  at 
Beth-Shemesh.  Near  this  place  is  the  grave  of  Samson  (Jud. 
16:31.)  The  railroad  is  now  going  up  among  the  mountains  of 
Judah,  on  the  south  side  of  the  valley  of  Zorah  to  a  station  called 
Der  Aban.  On  the  north  side  of  the  valley  is  the  home  town 
of  Samson,  the  ancient  Zorah,  among  a  grove  of  palm  trees. 
(Jud.  13:2.)  In  that  town  lived  Manoah  and  his  pious  wife. 
Quite  near  this  place  and  further  to  the  east  is  a  Jewish  colony 
called  Astuf.  We  are  now  among  the  foothills  of  Judah,  called 
Shefelah,  and  the  railroad  is  zigzagging  along  the  sides  of  the 
mountains,  through  valleys  and  tunnels.  Now  and  then  we  see 
walls  along  the  mountainsides.  These  were  built  to  keep  the 
soil  from  crumbling  down  with  the  winter  rain.  At  last  we  come 
to  Betir,  the  next  station  to  Jerusalem.  This  station  is  located 
in  a  valley,  and  is  a  Mohammedan  village.  The  Arabs  call  it 
Wady  el- Ward,  or  valley  of  roses,  because  there  is  an  abundance 
of  them  here. 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Betir  is  without  doubt  the  old  Bether,  where  a  strong  fortress 
was  located  formerly.  Within  this  fortress  Bar  Cochba  kept 
himself  and  his  warriors,  defying  the  soldiers  of  the  Emperor 
Hadrian,  who  beleaguered  it  for  a  long  time.  The  fortress  was 
captured  in  135  A.  D.,  the  head  of  Bar  Cochba  was  carried  with 
great  joy  into  the  Roman  camp,  and  now  followed  a  massacre 
so  fearful  that  the  brook  flowing  down  the  valley  ran  with  blood 
the  whole  way  down  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  Such  is  the 
tradition  of  the  Rabbis.  Next  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem 
this  was  the  greatest  desolation.  About  80,000  people  fell  before 
the  sword  of  the  Romans,  and  besides  this  a  great  number  of 
people  died  of  pestilence,  famine  and  other  misfortunes.  The 
only  place  in  the  Holy  Scripture  where  Bether  is  mentioned  is 
the  Songs  of  Solomon  2:17,  where  we  read:  “ Until  the  day 
break  and  the  shadows  flee  away,  turn,  my  beloved,  and  be  thou 
like  a  roe  or  a  young  hart  upon  the  mountains  of  Bether.  ’ ’  Down 
in  the  valley  the  water  flows  very  freely;  and  from  this  place 
the  water  is  led  into  the  city  of  Jerusalem. 

To  the  right  of  Betir,  beyond  the  station,  lies  Ain  el-Hanije, 
or  the  Well  of  Philip.  At  this  place  the  Ethiopean  eunuch  was 
baptized  by  the  deacon  in  Jerusalem,  Philip  (Acts  8:36.)  Next 
the  train  turns  into  Raphaim,  the  plain  of  the  Giants.  To  the 
right  we  have  the  mount,  Mar  Eljas,  to  the  left  the  residence  of 
the  Greek  patriarch,  and  further  ahead,  the  hospital  for  the 
leprous,  belonging  to  the  Moravian  Brethren.  We  are  now  on 
the  plain  on  which  the  army  of  King  Sennacherib  was  stationed, 
when  the  angel  of  the  Lord  in  one  night  slew  185,000  men.  I 
stood  for  a  long  time  by  the  car  window,  waiting  to  see  the  first 
glimpse  of  the  Holy  City.  The  train  is  speeding  along  in  a 
northeasterly  direction  along  the  plain.  My  heart  is  beating 
faster  than  usual  in  the  expectation  of  seeing  the  ancient  city 
of  Jerusalem.  You  do  not  see  very  much  of  it  when  you  arrive, 


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except  some  towers  and  minarets  here  and  there  and  a  part  of 
the  walls.  To  the  east  of  the  city  the  Mount  of  Olives  is  visible. 
This  I  saw  now  for  the  first  time,  and  I  shall  never  forget  this 
moment.  At  the  last  the  engine  whistles  and  the  train  comes  to  a 
stop  at  the  station.  My  watch  shows  6  :05  P.  M.  We  stepped  off 
the  train  and  read  “Jerusalem”  on  the  plain  and  insignificant 
station.  I  wondered  if  it  was  a  reality  or  a  dream.  I  was  awake, 
but  stood  there  as  a  dreamer.  Here  was  now  a  fearful  noise 
among  the  Arab  coachmen  who  stood  near  the  station.  Mr. 
Fisher  and  I  got  hold  of  a  representative  from  the  Hotel  Fast. 
Several  were  fighting  for  our  baggage,  but  at  last  we  stepped 
into  the  carriage ;  and  we  went  along  the  road,  by  the  Jaffa  gate, 
and  up  in  the  New  City.  The  station  is  located  about  a  mile 
to  the  west  of  the  Hill  of  Evil  Counsel.  As  soon  as  we  came  into 
the  car,  we  came  down  in  the  Gihon  Valley.  Here  we  see  to  the 
right  the  deep  Ben  Hinnom  Valley  and  beyond  this  the  Mount 
of  Olives.  In  the  Gihon  Valley  we  pass  over  a  bridge  called 
Birket-es-Sultan,  or  the  Sultan  dam,  the  Lower  Gihon. 

The  road  is  rather  steep,  until  we  reach  the  Jaffa  gate.  The 
coachman  used  the  whip  very  freely  and  the  horses  fell  down 
on  the  street,  I  told  the  man  that  if  he  struck  the  horses  once 
more  I  would  get  out  of  the  carriage  and  leave  him.  He  did 
not  strike  the  horses  any  more  after  that.  At  the  Hotel  Fast, 
very  tired  after  the  journey  of  the  day  and  in  need  of  refreshing 
sleep,  we  resolved  to  go  to  bed  early,  so  that  we  might  be  able 
to  “tour”  the  Holy  City  the  next  day.  I  thanked  God  with 
my  whole  heart  for  His  gracious  protection  during  my  journey 
to  this  city.  A  short  devotion  and  I  went  to  rest,  entrusting 
myself  to  the  protecting  hands  of  God,  and  slept  well  this,  ni}r 
first  night  in  the  Holy  City. 


[231] 


Chapter  XIII 


IN  THE  HOLY  CITY 

THIS  is  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  which  has  been  designated  as 
the  capital  city  of  the  whole  Christian  world.  Here  is  the 
birthplace  of  Christianity,  and  here  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God,  the  hope  of  mankind,  suffered,  died,  was  buried  and  arose 
again  from  the  dead.  Books  have  been  written  and  books  will 
be  written  about  this  wonderful  city,  and  what  shall  I  be  able 
to  relate  about  it  that  the  reader  does  not  know  already?  I 
wish  to  ask  the  reader  to  follow  me  in  imagination  to  the  top 
of  the  Mount  of  Olives.  We  shall  there  stand  and  let  the  events 
of  history  in  brief  pass  in  review  before  our  mind.  Here  the 
greatest  act  in  the  drama  of  human  life  has  been  acted. 

While  we  are  standing  on  the  top  of  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
on  the  place  where  Christ  is  said  to  have  once  stood,  we  have  the 
most  excellent  view  of  the  Holy  City.  But  before  we  endeavor 
to  relate  what  has  happened  within  these  walls,  let  us  try  to 
depict  the  location  of  this  historic  place.  The  ancient  city  of 
Jerusalem  is  located  on  the  top  of  the  mountains  of  Judah,  and 
about  2,500  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  It  is  located  on  four 
hills,  which  are  almost  surrounded  with  deep  valleys;  and  be¬ 
yond  these  the  mountains  rise  higher  than  those  of  the  city. 
When  you  stand  on  the  top  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  it  appears 
that  the  city  is  leaning  a  little  towards  the  east,  and  the  hills  are 
not  visible  to  any  greater  extent.  The  location  within  the  walls 
is  somewhat  oblong  from  southwest  to  northeast.  In  the  south¬ 
western  part  of  this  oblong  surface  lies  Mount  Zion,  in  the  north  - 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


east  Bezetha,  in  the  southeast  Moriah,  and  in  the  northwest  Acra. 
This  is  the  highest  place  on  which  the  city  is  built.  On  the 
west  side  of  Mount  Moriah  is  a  valley  called  Tyropoean  or  Cheese¬ 
mongers.  This  begins  inside  of  the  Damascus  Gate,  and  extends 
southward  to  the  Dung  Gate  and  into  the  Ben  Hinnom  Valley. 
But  you  cannot  see  this  very  clearly  on  an  elevation  like  the 
Mount  of  Olives.  The  present  wall,  built  by  Sultan  Suleiman  in 
1542,  has  seven  gates.  On  the  east  side  is  the  Stephen  Gate,  and 
this  name  is  given  to  it  because  the  Deacon  in  the  Christian 
church  at  Jerusalem,  Stephen,  was  stoned  outside  the  same.  He 
was  the  first  martyr  for  the  evangelical  truth.  The  Mohamme¬ 
dans  call  this  gate  Bab  Sitti  Maryam,  i.  e.  the  Gate  of  the  Virgin 
Mary,  because  in  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  below  this  gate,  the 
Virgin  Mary  was  buried.  Now  there  is  a  church  at  that  place. 
Further  south  in  the  wall  is  the  golden  gate,  called  by  the 
Mohammedans  Bab  ed-Dahariyeh,  and  is  located  almost  directly 
opposite  Moriah.  If  we  go  along  the  wall  northward  we  will 
come  to  the  Herod  Gate,  a  little  distance  to  the  west  of  the 
northeast  corner.  The  Arabs  call  this  gate  Bab  es-Zahireh.  A 
little  distance  to  the  west  is  the  Damascus  Gate,  called  Bab  el- 
Amud.  Here  was  the  old  Fish  Gate.  Further  west  again  is  a 
new  gate,  opened  quite  recently,  and  called  Bab  Abdul  Hamid. 
On  the  west  side  is  only  one  gate,  namely  the  Jaffa  Gate,  or 
Bab  el-Khalil.  The  Mohammedans  call  it  El-Khalil,  or  the  Friend, 
because  Abraham  was  the  friend  of  God,  and  through  this  gate 
you  go  to  Hebron,  where  Abraham  lived.  On  Mount  Zion  is  the 
Zion  Gate,  called  by  the  inhabitants  Bab  Nebi  Daud,  i.  e.  the 
prophet  David’s  Gate.  It  is  so  called,  because  the  grave  of  David 
is  supposed  to  be  quite  near  this  place.  In  the  south  wall  there 
is  only  one  gate,  the  Dung  Gate,  called  Bab  el-Mugharibe,  i.  e. 
the  African  Gate.  In  ancient  Jerusalem  the  gates  were  named 
quite  differently  and  located  at  different  places. 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


If  we  go  out  through  the  Stephen  Gate  and  walk  down  the 
hillside,  we  come  into  the  Jehoshaphat  Valley,  or  the  Kedron, 
as  it  is  called  in  the  New  Testament.  There  is  water  in  this 
brook  only  in  the  rainy  season.  This  valley  is  quite  deep  on  the 
east  side  of  the  city,  but  as  it  turns  to  the  northwest,  it  becomes 
wider  and  not  so  deep.  To  the  northeast  of  this  valley  is  Mount 
Scopus,  from  which  ridge  of  the  Mount  of  Olives  Titus  saw  the 
doomed  city  for  the  first  time.  On  the  west  side  is  the  Gihon 
Valley,  which  empties  into  Ben  Hinnom,  a  very  deep  and  craggy 
vale.  Jehoshaphat  and  Ben  Hinnom  unite  to  the  southeast  of  the 
city  into  a  deep  gorge  which  goes  down  to  the  Dead  Sea.  To 
the  south  of  Ben  Hinnom  is  the  Hill  of  Evil  Counsel,  so  called, 
because  the  home  of  Caiaphas  is  supposed  to  have  been  located 
here,  and  to  this  place  the  enemies  of  Jesus  came  to  counsel  how 
they  might  kill  him.  The  Mount  of  Olives  is  a  ridge,  the  top 
of  which  is  about  a  mile  from  the  city.  This  ridge  has  several 
smaller  knobs,  such  as  Mount  Scopus,  Viri  Galilaei,  or  Men  of 
Galilee,  the  Mount  of  Ascension,  and  Prophets  and  the  Mount  of 
Offense,  the  one  farthest  to  the  south,  by  the  road  leading  to 
Bethany  and  the  Dead  Sea.  Consequently  there  are  mountains 
all  around  the  Holy  City.  Only  to  the  southwest  is  an  open 
place,  the  plain  of  Rephaim.  This  circumstance  has  given  the 
psalmist  occasion  to  say:  “As  the  mountains  are  around  about 
Jerusalem,  so  the  Lord  is  round  about  His  people  from  hence¬ 
forth  even  forever.”  (Ps.  125:2.)  Such  is,  in  brief,  the  locality 
of  Jerusalem  as  you  see  it  from  the  top  of  Olives. 

What  wonderful  events  have  not  taken  place  here!  What 
changes  during  thousands  of  years  of  its  existence  have  not  these 
surroundings  witnessed !  Before  we  remind  ourselves  of  its 
wonderful  history,  let  us  relate  the  story  of  its  names.  In  the 
Patriarchal  era,  here  was  the  seat  of  a  royal  priesthood,  and  the 
name  of  the  incumbent  was  Melchizedek.  (Gen.  14:18.)  In 

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several  places  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  it  is  simply  called  Salem. 
About  one  hundred  years  before  Asaph  composed  the  seventy- 
sixth  Psalm  it  was  called  Salem.  “In  Salem  also  is  his  taber¬ 
nacle,  and  his  dwelling-place  in  Zion.”  (Ps.  76:2.)  When  the 
Israelites  conquered  the  land  of  Canaan,  the  Jebusites  lived 
here,  and  then  it  was  designated  Jebus,  Perhaps  the  full  name, 
even  at  that  time,  was  Jebus-Salem.  (Jud.  19-10.)  There  are 
some  who  believe  that  the  name  has  been  changed  from  Jebus- 
Salem  to  J erusalem  for  the  sake  of  euphony,  and  perhaps  that  is 
the  case.  The  first  time  we  meet  with  the  name  Jerusalem  in 
the  Bible  is  in  the  Book  of  Judges,  where  we  read:  “And  Adoni- 
bezek  said,  Three  score  and  ten  kings,  having  their  thumbs  and 
their  great  toes  cut  off,  gathered  their  meat  under  my  table; 
as  I  have  done,  so  God  hath  requited  me.  And  they  brought 
him  to  Jerusalem  and  there  he  died.  Now  the  children  of  Judah 
had  fought  against  Jerusalem,  and  had  taken  it,  and  smitten  it 
with  the  edge  of  the  sword,  and  set  the  city  on  fire.”  (Jud.  1 :7-8.) 
During  the  time  of  Joshua  and  the  Judges  it  is  sometimes  called 
Jerusalem,  and  sometimes  Jebus  or  City  of  the  Jebusites  (Jud. 
19  :11.)  The  city  is  also  called  Jebus’  Hight  (Jos.  18  :16.)  Jeru¬ 
salem  is  called  the  Holy  City  in  several  places  of  the  Scriptures 
(Mark  4:3;  27 :53),  and  Isaiah  calls  it  Ariel,  which  means  God’s 
lion.  (Is.  29:1.)  The  Emperor  Aelius  Hadrianus  founded  a 
Roman  colony  in  Jerusalem,  after  the  rebellion  of  Bar  Cochba, 
and  in  order  that  the  hated  Jews  might  not  have  occasion  to 
start  another  rebellion,  he  forbade  them  to  settle  here.  He 
rebuilt  Jerusalem  and  called  it  Aelia  Capitolina,  which  name  it 
retained  till  536  A.  D.  The  name  Jerusalem  was  altogether 
forgotten.  There  is  a  story  told  of  a  martyr  during  the  time 
of  Emperor  Maximius  (238)  at  Caesarea,  that  when  he  was 
asked  as  to  his  home  town  he  said  Jerusalem — thereby  meaning 
the  heavenly  Jerusalem — he  was  asked  by  the  Roman  official 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Firmilianus,  where  this  city  was  located  and  what  kind  of  a 
town  it  was — to  such  an  extent  Jerusalem  had  been  forgotten. 
Already  during  the  time  of  Constantine  the  Great  they  com¬ 
menced  to  use  the  name  Jerusalem,  but  the  name  Aelia  was 
used  for  some  time  afterwards.  At  present  the  Holy  City  is 
called  El-  Kuds  or  the  Sanctuary,  because  one  of  the  principal 
sanctuaries  is  located  here — Kubbet  es-Sakhra,  the  Dome  of  the 
Rock.  Although  the  Arabs  are  familiar  with  the  name  Jeru¬ 
salem  or  Jeru-shalaim,  they  very  seldom  use  it. 

Now  what  changes  do  not  these  different  names  indicate ! 
Jerusalem  has  had  a  golden  age.  Here  the  greatest  events  in 
the  histo^  of  the  world  have  taken  place.  There  are  seven 
great  periods  in  the  history  of  this  ancient  city.  The  first  is  the 
Patriarchal  from  2000-1500  B.  C.  About  4000  years  ago  came  an 
immigrant  of  the  Hebrew  family  from  Ur  of  the  Chaldees  by 
way  of  Mesopotamia,  went  to  the  southern  parts  of  the  land  of 
Canaan  and  made  that  part  of  the  land  his  home  country.  A 
relative  of  his,  his  nephew  Lot,  went  with  him  and  settled  in 
the  rich  and  fruitful  Siddim  Valley.  Here  he  happened  to  be 
attacked  by  Chedorlaomer,  and  was  carried  away  from  his  home 
country  in  one  of  those  warlike  expeditions.  Abram,  for  that 
was  the  name  of  the  Hebrew  stranger,  went  after  the  king  with 
his  318  brave  servants,  on  the  other  side  of  Damascus  to  Hobah. 
(Gen.  14:15.)  Here  he  conquered  him  and  brought  back  his 
nephew  Lot.  Returning,  he  went  without  doubt  by  way  of 
Salem. 

But  the  years  are  rolling  swiftly  by.  A  certain  day  there 
comes  an  aged  patriarch  over  the  hills  to  the  south  of  Salem. 
He  brings  along  two  servants,  an  ass  and  his  son,  the  only  one 
he  has,  leaves  the  ass  and  the  servants  a  little  ways  off,  and  with 
his  son,  a  bundle  of  wood,  a  knife  and  fire  he  proceeds  to  the 
hill  of  Moriah.  Here  he  builds  an  altar,  places  the  wood  upon 

[  236  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


it  and  binds  his  son  in  order  to  offer  him  as  a  sacrifice.  But  the 
angel  of  the  Lord  prevents  him;  he  finds  that  he  has  given 
evidence  enough  of  his  love  to  his  God  and  implicit  obedience. 
Here  is  a  reminder  of  Him  who  in  the  fulness  of  time  sacrificed 
Himself  in  the  place  of  mankind.  “The  chastisement  of  our 
peace  was  upon  Him.” 

But  a  new  era  breaks  in.  It  is  the  era  of  the  Jebusites  from 
1500-1048  B.  C.  This  is  a  stormy  period.  From  the  burning 
sands  of  the  desert  a  people  has  entered  into  the  land  of  Promise, 
and  they  have  come  conquering  and  to  conquer.  The  land  is 
given  to  them  by  promise,  but  they  must  occupy  it  by  conquest. 
The  Book  of  Joshua  relates  this  story  very  briefly,  and  Judges 
describes  the  occupation  of  the  land  in  detail.  After  seven 
years  of  bloody  wars  the  Israelites  are  masters  of  the  land.  In 
a  heroic  manner  the  occupants  of  the  fortress  Jebus  determine 
to  hold  their  own  in  face  of  the  victorious  immigrants.  The 
Israelites  won  the  victory.  Jerusalem  was  given  to  the  tribe  of 
Benjanfin  at  the  division  of  the  land,  but  it  seems  as  though 
they  did  not  make  any  effort  to  occupy  the  city.  The  tribe  of 
Judah,  whose  boundary  lines  went  down  to  the  Valley  of  Ben 
ILinnom,  tried  to  occupy  the  fortress,  but  could  not,  and  the 
Jebusites  lived  there  together  with  the  children  of  Israel.  (Jos. 
15:63.)  After  the  death  of  Joshua  the  tribe  of  Judah  captured 
the  city  of  Jebus,  killed  the  inhabitants,  and  burnt  it.  ( Jud.  1 :8.) 
Josephus  relates  that  it  was  the  lower  part  of  the  city,  which 
Judah  captured,  but  he  could  not  capture  the  upper  part,  be¬ 
cause  the  Jebusites  defended  their  city  so  heroically  and  kept 
their  fortress  for  four  hundred  years,  in  spite  of  the  fierce  attacks 
of  Israel. 

Another  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  city  is  coming.  This 
is  the  Royal  period,  and  extends  from  1048  to  588  B.  C.  Over 
the  hills  from  the  south  an  army  is  drawing  near.  The  general 


[  237  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


is  the  king  at  Hebron.  His  army  is  approaching  the  mighty 
fortress  of  the  Jebusites.  A  fearful  struggle  takes  place.  Joab 
was  the  first  to  climb  up  on  the  wall,  the  strong  fortress  was 
captured  and  Joab  became  the  general  of  the  army.  In  this  way 
David  conquered  the  Jebusites,  occupied  the  fortress,  lived  there, 
and  so  it  was  called  the  City  of  David.  David  built  a  fortress  on 
the  hill  of  Zion  with  cedar  trees  from  Lebanon.  (II  Sam.  5  :1-11.) 
Amidst  great  rejoicing  the  ark  of  the  covenant  was  brought  to 
Zion  from  Kirjath-Jearim,  and  placed  there  in  a  tent.  David 
intended  to  build  a  temple  to  the  Lord,  but  the  prophet  Nathan 
came  to  him  and  told  him  that  he  was  a  man  of  war,  had  shed 
blood,  and  for  this  reason  he  could  not  build  a  dwelling-place 
to  the  Lord.  Still  he  was  permitted  to  prepare  for  it.  Here 
David  ruled  thirty  and  three  years  over  all  the  tribes,  carried 
the  scepter  with  a  mighty  hand,  and  extended  the  boundary 
lines  of  his  dominion.  He  began  to  build  a  wall  around  the  city 
and  this  was  completed  by  his  son  and  successor.  When  David 
brought  the  ark  of  the  covenant  to  Jebus,  it  was  called  Jeru¬ 
salem.  At  that  time  the  town  was  located  mostly  on  the  west 
side  of  the  Tyropoean  Valley  and  on  the  southern  part  of  Moriah, 
called  Ophel.  Thus  we  find  here  the  upper  and  the  lower  city. 

At  the  end  of  his  reign  David  bought  the  threshing  floor  of 
the  Jebusite,  Oman,  for  six  hundred  shekels  of  gold.  (II  Chron. 
3:1.)  Having  finished  a  very  successful  reign,  he  is  gathered 
unto  his  fathers  and  his  son  ascends  his  throne.  During  his 
peaceful  regime  the  temple  is  built  on  Moriah.  Under  the  lead¬ 
ership  of  3,600  men  this  work  is  carried  on,  and  70,000  are  bring¬ 
ing  material  from  Lebanon,  while  80,000  are  working  in  the 
stone  quarries.  Of  strangers  there  were  153,000  who  partook 
in  this  work.  The  temple  was  twice  as  large  in  dimensions  as 
the  tabernacle.  These  things  took  place  1010  B.  C.  The  reign 
of  this  king  was  most  glorious,  and  yet  we  find  many  dark 


[  238] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


shadows  in  his  life.  There  were  a  great  many  faults  to  be  found 
with  him  personally.  In  his  time  the  seeds  of  coming  struggles 
and  divisions  were  sown.  Strange,  indeed,  that  this  king  fell 
away  from  God  in  his  old  age.  Heathen  women  led  him  away 
from  God.  Did  he  ever  return  to  God  in  a  proper  relation  to 
Him?  Who  can  answer?  Some  believe  that  he  did,  and  that 
he  then  wrote  his  book,  Ecclesiastes. 

With  Solomon  away  from  the  arena  of  life,  his  kingdom 
is  divided  into  two  divisions,  the  kingdom  of  Judah  and  the 
kingdom  of  Israel,  and  Jerusalem  becomes  the  capital  city  of 
the  former  kingdom.  There  are  twenty  kings  in  succession  on 
the  ancient  throne  of  David. 

N  In  the  reign  of  Hezekiah,  Sennacherib,  the  king  of  Assyria 
came  and  captured  many  cities  of  Judah — Assyrian  inscriptions 
say  forty-six — and  these  cities  were  fortified.  The  prophet  Isaiah 
had  prophesied  about  these  events  long  before.  (Isa. 10:  28-32.) 
The  reign  of  Ahaz  was  very  disastrous,  but  in  the  days  of  Heze¬ 
kiah  the  Lord  protected  His  Zion.  But  now  Egyptian  armies 
came  again,  this  time  under  the  leadership  of  Pharao  Necho, 
right  into  the  Holy  City.  Thrice  this  king  of  Babylon  came  to 
I  Jerusalem,  606,  599,  and  588  B.  C.,  and  established  his  vassal 
kings  here  at  last.  When  one  of  these  kings,  Zedechiah,  rose  up 
against  his  master,  Nebuchadnezzar  came  the  third  time  in  588, 
captured  the  city,  razed  it  to  the  ground,  and  brought  the  in¬ 
habitants  with  his  as  captives  to  Babylon.  The  estimate  is  that 
about  300,000  or  400,000  were  carried  into  captivity.  This  was 
a  deplorable  time  for  the  Jewish  nation.  Jerusalem  was  now 
desolate,  the  temple  was  torn  down,  and  among  the  ruins  Jere¬ 
miah,  who  was  permitted  to  remain  in  his  home  country,  sang 
his  lamentations.  By  the  rivers  of  Babylon  the  children  of 
Judah  wept,  when  they  thought  of  their  Zion. 


[  239] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


From  588  B.  C.  to  70  A.  D.  the  Jews  enjoyed  an  era  of 
liberty.  Led  by  Zerubbabel,  they  were  restored  to  their  former 
home  in  Palestine.  In  the  year  536  B.  C.  the  first  prisoners  re¬ 
turned  to  their  desolate  city.  They  began  slowly  to  rebuild  the 
temple  and  the  city.  In  445  Nehemiah  returned  to  the  city  of 
his  fathers  and  built  the  walls  around  the  place.  A  great  num¬ 
ber  returned  and  the  new  Jerusalem  rose  out  of  the  ruins  and 
became  a  metropolis  for  the  Jewish  state.  When  the  Persian 
king  Cyrus  victoriously  entered  Babylon,  the  Jews  became  sub¬ 
jects  to  the  Persian  government.  Again  when  the  powerful  son 
of  Maced  on,  Alexander  the  Great,  subjugated  the  Orient  and 
captured  the  Holy  City  and  became  ruler  of  this  territory, 
Jerusalem  came  under  the  scepter  of  Macedonia.  Alexander 
marched  into  this  city  in  332  B.  C.  The  Jews  received  certain 
privileges  in  his  dominion.  When  the  mighty  ruler  died  in 
Babylonia  in  323  B.  C.,  his  kingdom  was  divided  into  four  parts, 
and  Jerusalem  came  under  the  Syrian  and  later  under  the 
Egyptian  rulers.  These  two  kingdoms  fought  for  this  historic 
place  and  Palestine.  Think  of  the  fearful  wars  that  have  been 
waged  here ! 

Ptolemaeus  Soter,  king  of  Egypt,  captured  this  city  in 
320  B.  C.,  and  this  he  did  because  the  Jews  were  not  willing  to 
fight  on  the  Sabbath.  The  king  of  Syria,  Antiochus,  recaptured 
it,  and  when  the  Jews  rebelled,  Antiochus  Ephiphanes  and  his 
son  recaptured  the  same  in  169.  Now  a  period  of  persecution 
began  for  the  Jews  and  a  great  many  were  killed.  Then  the 
powerful  Maccabees  appear  on  the  scene  (167-137).  A  Jewish 
priest  from  Jerusalem,  whose  paternal  city,  Modin,  was  located 
to  the  northwest,  came  forth  as  a  deliverer.  His  name  was  Mat- 
tathia.  His  son,  Judas  Maccabee,  liberated  Jerusalem  from  the 
oppressors,  and  now  a  period  of  prosperity  came  for  the  oppres 
people.  But  at  the  end  of  this  period  conflicts  arose.  Two 

[  240  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


brothers,  Hyrcanus  and  Aristobulns,  were  fighting  for  the  su¬ 
premacy.  When  they  appeared  before  the  Roman  general  with 
a  view  of  having  their  disputes  settled,  Pompey,  then  at  Damas¬ 
cus,  came  with  his  army  and  captured  Jerusalem,  and  thus  the 
Romans  came  into  power  in  this  country. 

This  happened  in  the  year  65  B.  C.  Herod,  the  Idumean, 
became  king  in  40  B.  C.  and  being  appointed  by  the  Roman  sen¬ 
ate,  he  was  subject  to  Rome.  In  this  way  the  Herodian  family 
came  to  rule  over  Palestine.  This  was  a  prosperous  time  in  many 
ways  for  the  Jewish  nation.  This  was  the  Herod  who  ruled  in 
the  land  when  Christ,  the  promised  Messiah,  was  born  in  Beth¬ 
lehem,  six  miles  south  of  here.  Herod  ruled  in  reality  from  38 
B.  C.  to  4  A.  D.  Herod  was  a  mighty  builder.  At  Jerusalem 
he  built  an  arena  for  races,  and  outside  the  city  he  erected  an 
amphitheatre  for  bull  fights,  and  every  fifth  year  he  arranged 
for  such  combats  to  the  honor  of  the  Emperor  Augustus.  The 
Jews  were  very  much  displeased  at  such  doings,  and  ten  men 
made  a  plot  to  kill  the  king.  He  found  it  out  and  these  men 
were  put  to  death  in  a  most  horrible  manner.  Herod  fortified 
Jerusalem  and  built  three  towers  on  the  north  side  of  the  old 
wall,  called  Hippicus,  Phasael  and  Mariamme,  in  honor  of  his 
friend,  brother  and  wife.  On  Mount  Zion  he  built  a  strong 
fortress.  Furthermore,  he  built  Herodion  in  Judah,  Caesarea  by 
the  sea  and  a  great  many  fortresses.  We  will  pass  by  his  build¬ 
ings  in  Damascus,  Beiruth,  Ptolemais  and  Zidon  and  several 
other  places  in  order  to  remind  ourselves  of  his  masterpiece,  the 
temple  on  Mount  Moriah.  By  this  building  he  wished  to  im 
mortalize  his  name.  The  temple  of  Zerubbabel  was  quite  a 
good  deal  smaller  than  the  Solomonic,  but  stood  on  the  same 
place.  He  was  compelled  to  tear  down  the  old  one,  but  before 
the  Jews  would  allow  him  to  do  that,  he  was  compelled  to  promise 
that  he  should  build  another  one.  One  thousand  priests  were 


[241] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


appointed  to  superintend  the  construction  of  the  sanctuary. 
One  thousand  wagons  brought  stones  to  the  building,  and  ten 
thousand  men  cut  them.  This  was  a  most  beautiful  and  mag¬ 
nificent  structure,  and  may  be  classified  among  the  most  splendid 
edifices  that  human  hands  have  reared.  The  Jews  told  us  that 
it  was  in  construction  during  forty-six  years,  and  yet  it  took 
another  eighteen  years  before  it  was  finished.  It  stood  complete 
for  six  years,  when  in  70  A.  D.  it  was  burnt  down  by  soldiers 
when  Jerusalem,  at  that  time,  was  captured.  There  are  some 
authors  who  hold  that  the  building  was  ready  in  two  and  a  half 
years,  but  that  the  additional  structures  required  still  eight 
years.  On  the  north  side  of  the  temple  he  built  the  fortress 
Baris,  or  rather  rebuilt  it  and  called  it  Antonia  in  commemora¬ 
tion  of  Antonius.  We  must  pass  by  a  great  deal  of  what  this 
man  did.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  towards  the  end  of  his  life  the 
wise  men  from  the  Orient  came  and  inquired  for  the  new-born 
King  of  the  Jews.  The  prophecies  pointed  to  Bethlehem  as  the 
right  place  and  thither  they  went.  The  murderous  Herod  caused 
all  boys  in  Bethlehem,  who  were  two  and  below  two  years,  to  be 
killed. 

With  Herod’s  son,  Archelaus  the  land  of  Judah  lost  the  last 
remnant  of  its  independence,  and  after  this  the  country  was 
governed  by  procurators,  or  governors,  appointed  by  the  Roman 
government.  These  procurators  ruled  from  6-41  A.  D.  The  one 
mostly  known  by  the  Christian  world  is  Pontius  Pilate  or  Pilate, 
who  ruled  from  26  to  36  of  our  era.  He  was  a  very  weak  ruler, 
and  at  the  same  time  cruel  and  inhuman.  During  his  time  the 
greatest  event  in  the  annals  of  man  took  place.  Pontius  Pilate 
condemned  Jesus  Christ,  our  Saviour,  to  death.  Yonder,  on  the 
southern  part  of  Acra,  is  a  little  knob  called  Golgotha,  or  Place 
of  Skull.  To  this  place  He  was  brought,  who  had  done  no  evil, 
and  in  whose  mouth  no  guile  was  found.  Here  he  was  made  a 


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sin  offering  for  us,  in  order  that  we  might  inherit  the  eternal 
life.  Yonder  on  the  hill  He  hung  on  the  cross  between  two  male¬ 
factors. 

Let  us  hasten  over  the  history  till  the  year  70.  For  years 
J erusalem  was  an  arena  for  wars  and  bloodshed.  At  last  the  city 
became  a  carcass  for  the  Roman  eagles.  The  hour  of  revenge  is 
come.  Yonder  to  the  north  Titus  appeared  with  his  army  on 
Mount  Scopus.  The  words,  spoken  by  the  Master  when  he  was 
sitting  here  on  this  mount  somewhere,  shall  be  fulfilled:  “There 
shall  not  be  left  one  stone  upon  another,  that  shall  not  be  thrown 
down.”  (Matt.  23  :2.)  The  army  of  Titus  numbered  about  60,000 
soldiers  without  servants.  After  fifteen  days  the  army  of  Titus 
was  located  on  Bethzeta,  and  had  thus  passed  the  first,  or  Agrip- 
pa’s  wall;  in  a  short  time  his  army  had  taken  the  place  between 
this  and  the  second.  The  distress  among  the  besieged  was  in¬ 
describable.  On  the  eighth  of  September  Titus  broke  into  the 
city.  Now  about  1,000,000  were  killed  during  the  siege.  The 
Jews  had  to  give  in  to  the  superior  power  of  the  Romans.  The 
words  of  Christ  became  literally  fulfilled,  the  temple  was  burnt, 
and  the  plow  was  driven  over  the  Hill  of  Moriah.  From  this 
date,  A.  D.  70,  the  real  Roman  period  begins  (70-637).  Jeru¬ 
salem  is  forgotten  and  nothing  is  said  of  it  for  half  a  century. 
But  in  the  first  part  of  the  second  century  another  war  breaks 
out.  It  is  the  false  Messiah,  Bar  Cochba,  who  is  trying  to  rebuild 
the  city  and  temple.  Without  doubt  the  Holy  City  was  left 
to  itself  after  its  destruction  by  Titus.  Jews  by  the  thousands 
are  gathered  around  Bar  Cochba.  The  rebellion  must  be  crushed. 
Hadrian  succeeded  in  crushing  it,  every  building  in  Jerusalem 
was  leveled  to  the  ground,  and  they  drove  the  plow  over  the 
temple  place  as  an  indication  that  no  temple  should  be  built 
there  any  more.  Their  last  refuge  was  Betir,  of  which  place 
we  have  spoken  before  on  our  way  to  Jerusalem.  But  even  this 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


place  must  give  in.  This  happened  on  the  9th  of  August,  the 
very  same  day  that  the  temple  was  destroyed  by  Nebucadnezzar 
in  588  B.  C.,  and  the  Herodian  temple  in  70  A.  D. 

Hadrian  caused  a  Jupiter  temple  to  be  built  on  Moriah.  The 
Jews  were  forbidden  to  come  nearer  Jerusalem  than  three  Roman 
miles  (15,000  feet).  They  were  not  even  permitted  to  look  at 
it  from  a  distance.  The  Christians  were  permitted  to  live  in 
Jerusalem,  but  under  oppressing  conditions.  Hadrian  built  a 
Venus  temple  over  the  grave  of  Christ,  so  as  to  make  the  place 
very  detestable  for  the  Christians.  He  gave  the  city  another 
name,  Aelia  Capitolina.  Jerusalem  was  to  become  a  heathen 
city  in  every  way. 

In  the  year  326  we  find  the  Empress  Helena  in  the  Holy 
City.  She  is  here  at  the  command  of  her  son,  Emperor  Con¬ 
stantine,  to  investigate  the  holy  places.  Julian,  the  Apostate, 
sought  to  build  another  temple  on  Mount  Moriah,  but  a  subter¬ 
ranean  fire  broke  out  against  him,  as  Amenianus  Marcellinus, 
the  companion  of  the  Emperor,  informs  us.  He  had  to  give  up 
building  the  temple.  In  529  the  emperor  built  a  church  on 
Moriah,  on  the  place  where  the  Mosque  El-Aksa  now  stands.  The 
Persian  king,  Cosroes  II,  captured  Jerusalem,  destroyed  the 
church  and  killed  a  great  number  of  monks  and  priests.  Then 
the  Mohammedan  period  is  ushered  in.  In  637  Jerusalem  and 
the  whole  of  Palestine  is  taken  by  the  Mohammedans  under  the 
Caliph  Omar.  After  this  period  comes  the  era  of  the  Crusades 
(1099-1191).  Mighty  armies  rush  toward  the  coasts  of  the  Holy 
Land,  and  the  holy  places  are  now  held  in  very  high  esteem. 
Eight  great  Crusades  are  undertaken  to  the  Holy  Land;  and 
besides  this,  the  children’s  Crusade.  The  kingdom  of  Jerusalem 
lasted  for  88  years.  The  Sultan  of  Damascus,  Saladin,  conquered 
the  army  of  the  Crusaders  on  the  plain  below  the  Mount  of 
Beatitudes  in  1187,  and  the  same  year  Jerusalem  and  Palestine 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


were  taken.  Now  a  period  of  tribulation  came  for  the  Christians. 
They  were  permitted  to  keep  only  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepul- 
cre ;  everything  else  was  taken  from  them.  In  1517  Jerusalem 
came  under  the  Turkish  scepter,  and  since  that  time  there  have 
not  been  many  changes  in  the  old  program.  Thousands  of  Jews 
have  moved  into  Jerusalem  during  the  last  decades.  Here  they 
have  settled  in  the  southeastern  and  in  the  northwestern  parts 
of  the  city. 

Such,  in  brief,  is  the  history  of  the  Holy  City.  We  have 
touched  upon  only  a  few  facts  in  the  various  periods.  There  is 
not  a  city  in  the  world,  that  has  had  such  a  changeable  history 
as  this.  During  the  course  of  3,000  years  it  has  been  besieged 
not  less  than  thirty-five  times.  The  enemy  has  captured  Jeru¬ 
salem  twenty-six  times  and  plundered  it  just  as  many  times. 
It  has  been  leveled  to  the  ground  three  times;  by  Nebucadnezzar 
in  588  B.  C.,  by  Titus  in  70  A.  D.,  and  by  Hadrian  in  135  A.  D. 
These  and  a  thousand  other  thoughts  crowd  our  mind  as  we  are 
standing  on  the  Mount  of  Olives.  Now  if  my  worthy  reader 
wishes  to  follow  me,  we  shall  wander  about  in  the  Holy  City 
and  its  surroundings  to  find  out  the  conditions  in  that  city  at 
present. 

In  the  morning,  the  18th  of  September,  I  rose  early,  but  did 
not  feel  well.  At  this  time  of  the  year  the  Syrian  fever  was  very 
common  in  Palestine,  and  a  great  many  people  were  sick  with  this 
disease.  The  fever  is  called  Abu  Rukeb,  or  father  of  the  knee, 
because  it  makes  itself  manifest,  to  begin  with,  in  the  knees,  and 
then  a  fearful  itch  follows.  I  secured  some  medicine  for  the 
fever  and  it  helped  me  a  great  deal.  At  this  time  it  was  very 
warm  here,  and  I  secured  thin  garments  for  such  a  climate. 
Then  I  went  to  the  American  consulate  to  find  if  there  was  any 
mail  from  home.  Later  on  I  met  my  dragoman,  Mr.  Ephraim 
Aboosh.  He  promised  to  help  me  with  a  suitable  place  to  live  in, 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


where  I  could  have  more  quiet  than  I  had  at  the  Hotel  Fast. 
After  a  good  deal  of  futile  searching,  owing  to  the  prevalence 
of  the  Syrian  fever,  we  were  at  last  accommodated  at  the  main 
building  in  the  American  colony.  From  my  room  in  the  upper 
story  I  had  an  excellent  view  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  to  the  east 
and  northeast,  and  Mispa,  or  Nebi  Samwil  in  the  northwest.  A 
better  room  I  could  not  have  received  anywhere,  and  I  had  a 
splendid  opportunity  to  learn  to  know  more  closely  my  recently 
acquired  friends  in  the  colony.  Perhaps  it  would  not  be  out  of 
place  to  relate  something  about  this  colony. 

About  forty  years  ago  a  woman  went  from  Chicago  over 
the  Atlantic  to  France.  Her  name  was  Anna  Spafford.  She 
was  a  Norwegian  lady  by  birth,  born  in  Stavanger,  Norway,  and 
was  the  wife  of  a  well-to-do  lawyer  in  Chicago.  In  the 
middle  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  a  sailing  vessel  ran  into  the 
steamer  and  in  fifteen  minutes  the  boat  sank  with  nearly  all  the 
passengers.  About  seven  hundred  were  on  board  and  eighty-two 
were  rescued.  Mrs.  Anna  Spafford  was  one  of  them.  She  was 
unconscious  and  was  floating  about  in  the  water,  on  some  wreck¬ 
age  when  she  was  miraculously  saved;  but  her  two  daughters, 
whom  she  was  taking  to  France  to  be  educated,  were  drowned. 
Having  landed  in  Europe,  she  sent  her  husband  this  laconic 
telegram,  ‘  ‘  Saved  alone.  ’  ’  Mrs.  Spafford  thought  she  must  have 
been  saved  for  some  purpose,  and  so  she  went  to  Jerusalem  in 
1881  with  seven  others  and  founded  this  colony.  After  awhile 
there  came  others  from  Chicago  and  a  few  from  Dalcarlia  in 
Sweden;  and  the  number  of  the  colonists  grew  continually.  At 
present  there  are  about  120  altogether,  and  of  these  about  forty 
are  Swedes,  either  from  Chicago  or  from  Dalcarlia.  Such  is,  in 
short,  the  history  of  the  foundation  of  the  colony  and  its  de¬ 
velopment. 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


It  was  a  Saturday  evening  when  I  moved  into  the  colony. 
My  room  was  well  furnished  and  had  a  kind  of  cupola  for  a  roof. 
This  form  of  roof  is  better  adapted  for  the  hot  climate,  and 
although  the  weather  was  very  warm  during  the  weeks  that  I  was 
in  the  city,  my  room  was  cool  and  very  agreeable.  I  felt  at  home 
in  this  colony  at  once.  They  spoke  the  American  language  all 
the  time. 

Before  the  meals  they  rang  a  little  bell.  The  first  ringing 
signified  that  you  should  make  ready  for  the  meal,  and  the  second, 
that  you  should  gather  in  the  dining  hall.  I  came  in  with  the 
rest  of  them  and  was  given  a  place  between  Mr.  H.  L.  Larson 
and  Mr.  Jacob  Elliahu.  I  could  not  have  wished  for  better  table 
companions.  The  dining  room  was  large  and  spacious,  the  table 
well  set  and  everything  reminded  me  of  the  New  World.  When 
all  had  gathered  at  their  various  places,  I  expected  that  some 
one  should  say  grace.  But  no  one  did  it.  Instead  they  united 
in  singing  the  following  verse : 

‘  ‘  The  Lord  is  great,  the  Lord  is  good, 

And  we  thank  Him  for  this  food. 

By  His  hand  must  all  be  made. 

Give  us,  0  Lord,  our  daily  bread.” 

Their  beautiful  voices  sounded  harmoniously  through  the  dining 
hall,  and  I  felt  good  to  be  at  a  table  where  the  guests  received 
their  daily  bread  with  thanksgiving.  The  meals  were  always 
well  prepared  and  served  in  the  ways  of  the  New  World.  No 
wonder  that  I  felt  so  at  home  with  these  people.  When  I  re¬ 
turned,  tired  and  weary  from  my  journeys,  I  always  found  a 
pleasant  refuge  among  these  friends,  and  all  the  time  they  treated 
me  in  a  gentlemanly  and  Christian  manner. 

Economically  they  seem  to  believe  in  a  kind  of  socialism  and 
have,  as  far  as  I  could  determine,  everything  in  common.  Every 


[  247  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


one  has  something  to  do,  and  the  best  harmony  prevails  among 
them  as  far  as  I  could  ascertain.  But  the  socialism  of  the  Ameri¬ 
can  colony  here  in  the  Holy  City  is  not  of  the  modern  kind, 
but  bears  the  trait  of  the  socialism  of  the  first  Christians  in  this 
city.  No  one  complained.  Every  one  has  his  special  work  to 
do  and  this  he  does  in  a  quiet  manner. 

They  have  had  a  hard  time  to  row  through  in  former  days, 
as  I  was  told,  but  now  the  colony  is  on  a  good  financial  footing. 
The  religious  tendency  among  them  seems  to  be  a  certain  kind 
of  adventism.  They  live  a  Christian  life.  Every  morning  they 
come  together  in  their  chapel  and  read  God’s  word,  sing  and 
pray.  It  was  refreshing  to  see  them  come  together  and  study 
the  Bible ;  and  we  must  say  that  they  are  very  familiar  with  the 
teachings  of  the  Scriptures.  Every  Sunday  they  come  together 
around  the  word,  when  someone  reads  a  selection  from  the 
Bible  and  makes  some  comments  on  that  which  has  been  read. 
Then  they  sing  and  pray  as  we  do  at  our  prayer  meetings.  One 
of  them  told  me  after  their  devotional  hour,  “These  are  very 
precious  hours,  and  I  do  not  want  to  miss  them  for  anything. 
They  are  necessary  for  the  spiritual  life.”  The  man  was  right. 
It  is  well  known  that  these  Americans  and  Swedes  came  to 
Jerusalem  to  be  prepared  for  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  and  they 
considered  that  Jerusalem  was  the  proper  place. 

They  have  had  some  scruples  regarding  marriage  and  con¬ 
sidered  it  as  belonging  to  this  world,  and  some  thing  that  they 
should  not  concern  themselves  with.  But  they  have  modified 
their  ideas  as  to  marriage  of  late,  and  now  they  permit  mar¬ 
riage.  The  German  Lutheran  pastor  in  the  city  performs  the 
marriage  ceremony.  The  colonists  are  very  social  and  hos¬ 
pitable.  The  stranger  is  cordially  invited  to  their  colony  and 
is  entertained  with  the  very  best  refreshments.  The  tourist  is 
then  generally  shown  around  in  the  various  buildings  and  can 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


see  whatever  there  is  to  he  seen.  The  Mohammedans  have  free 
social  intercourse  with  them  and  prominent  men  of  Islam  are 
often  found  at  their  table.  During  my  stay  in  the  colony  a 
certain  Mohammedan  was  invited  to  their  table ;  and  a  few 
days  later  he  extended  an  invitation  to  them  and  invited  me 
also  to  come  along.  His  home  was  at  the  foot  of  the  Mount  of 
Olives.  That  very  day,  when  he  had  invited  us,  I  did  not  feel 
very  well,  and  could  not  accept  his  kind  invitation.  This  con¬ 
fidence  they  have  won  because  of  their  Christian  life  and  the 
many  acts  of  kindness  and  mercy  shown  to  needy  Moham¬ 
medans,  often  poor  Arabs  knock  at  the  doors  of  the  colony, 
asking  for  help,  and  they  do  not  need  to  knock  to  deaf  ears. 
Well-to-do  tourists  have  left  large  sums  to  them  to  be  used  in 
educating  poor  boys  and  girls,  and  it  is  needless  to  remark  that 
this  work  has  been  well  taken  care  of. 

One  of  the  members  informed  me  that  they  have  had  trying 
times  to  pass  through,  not  only  because  of  poverty,  but  also  on 
account  of  persecution.  They  were  persecuted  not  only  by  the 
Mohammedans  and  Jews,  but  also  by  the  Christians.  Their 
dead  were  sometimes  not  allowed  to  slumber  undisturbed  in 
their  graves.  Now  they  have  come  to  see  happier  and  more  hopeful 
days  and  look  to  the  future  with  confidence  and  hope.  The 
colony  is  prospering  and  will,  no  doubt,  continue  to  do  so. 

The  people  in  this  community  have  a  very  pleasant  time 
and  make  the  best  of  it.  One  day  I  attended  a  birthday  festi¬ 
val  and  this  reminded  me  very  much  of  a  Sunday  school  festival 
in  America,  when  presents  were  distributed  among  the  children. 
Usually  such  festivals  are  held  every  month  and  presents  are 
then  given  to  those,  who  during  the  month  have  had  their 
birthday.  When  they  had  distributed  the  presents  they  sang, 
played  and  had  a  good  social  time.  They  sing  and  play  very 
well  and  it  was  a  pleasure  for  me  to  be  present.  Refreshments 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


were  served  at  last.  Some  one  had  found  out  that  I  had  my 
birthday  during  my  absence  in  the  northern  part  of  the  coun¬ 
try,  and  when  I  came  back  and  attended  one  of  those  birthday 
festivals,  I  was  the  recipient  of  a  very  fine  picture  of  the  altar 
painting  of  the  Russian  Gethsemane  church  in  Jerusalem. 

Such  is  the  history  of  the  American  colony  in  Jerusalem 
at  the  present  time.  I  shall  never  forget  their  kindness  in 
every  way,  and  especially,  when  sickness  overtook  me  on  my 
journey  in  Philistia. 

During  my  first  evening  among  my  newly  acquired  friends 
my  dragoman  came  to  me  and  offered  to  take  me  to  the  church 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  he  did  so.  He  promised 
to  meet  me  at  the  J  affa  gate  next  Sunday  morning, 
and  so  he  hade  me  good  night.  The  19th  of  September  I  arose 
at  six  o’clock  in  the  morning,  had  my  breakfast,  and  went  out 
to  go  to  church.  Never  before  had  I  been  able  to  attend 
church  in  Jerusalem,  and  I  felt  rather  peculiar.  The  morning 
was  perfect,  not  a  cloud  on  the  firmament,  everything  was  so 
very  quiet.  A  certain  peace  rested  over  the  community  that 
morning.  The  Arabs  rode  on  their  camels  or  donkeys,  some 
of  them  were  walking.  No  matter  how  early  you  may  rise,  the 
Arabs  are  still  ahead  of  you.  We  came  to  the  church  at  eight 
o’clock.  Here  we  are  on  holy  ground  and  we  must  obey  the 
admonition,  given  to  Moses  at  the  mount  of  Horeb,  “Put  off 
thy  shoes  from  off  thy  feet,  for  the  place  whereon  thou  stand- 
est  is  holy  ground.”  (Ex.  3:5.)  But  before  we  enter  into  this 
sanctuary,  let  us  ask  ourselves  some  questions.  Are  Golgotha 
and  the  Holy  Sepulchre  within  this  church?  If  so,  what  evi¬ 
dence  have  we  for  this  assertion?  Let  us  consider  some  of  the 
evidences  that  speak  in  favor  of  this  place. 

According  to  the  story  of  the  evangelist  John,  “the  place 
where  Jesus  was  crucified  was  nigh  to  the  city”  (Joh.  19:  20). 


[  250] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


In  Hebrews  we  also  read,  that  “Jesus  suffered  without  the 
gate.  Let  us  go  forth  therefore  unto  Him  without  the  camp, 
bearing  his  reproach”  (Heb.  13:  12).  The  place  is  called  in 
Hebrew  Gulgoleth.  This  word  means  place  of  scull. 
We  must  observe  that  the  place  is  not  called  Places  of 
Sculls,  but  Place  of  Scull.  Luke  calls  it  Scull  (Luk.  23:  33). 
The  place  is  designated  as  a  place  and  not  as  a  “mountain.” 
It  is  possible  that  Gulgoleth  was  a  place  of  execution,  where 
criminals  were  executed.  It  has  been  customary  to  execute 
those  doomed  to  death,  outside  of  the  Jaffa  gate.  The  last  exe¬ 
cution  took  place  here  in  1868. 

Another  reason  why  the  place  was  called  Place  of  Scull, 
was  this — that  the  shape  of  the  hill  reminded  one  very  much  of 
a  scull,  and  this  idea  is,  perhaps,  the  right  one.  The  Pilgrim 
from  Bordeaux  (333)  is  the  first  one  who  speaks  about  the  form 
of  Golgotha,  and  calls  it  a  “little  knob.”  It  is  possible  that 
the  place  had  received  its  name  from  the  form  of  the  knob,  and 
that  this  was  used  as  a  place  of  execution.  Mark  calls  it  the 
place  Golgotha  (Mark  15:  22),  and  Matthew  says,  “a  place 
called  Golgotha”  (Matt.  27:  33),  and  according  to  John  it  is 
written,  “in  the  place  where  he  was  crucified  was  a  garden; 
and  in  the  garden  a  new  sepulchre,  wherein  was  never  man  yet 
laid”  (John  19:  41).  There  is  no  one  who  can  doubt  that  the 
apostles  knew  where  Golgotha  and  the  Holy  Sepulchre  were. 
It  is  also  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty  souls,  constituting  the  first  congregation  in  Jerusalem, 
shortly  before  the  ascension  of  the  Lord,  knew  where  those 
holy  places  were.  Many  of  those  who  saw  the  wonderful 
things  that  took  place  at  His  death  and  resurrection,  must  have 
known  where  the  grave  of  the  wonderful  teacher  was  located. 
The  churchfather,  Eusebius  of  Caesarea  (340),  has  given  us  a 
list  of  those  thirty-eight  bishops,  from  the  time  of  Christ  to  Con- 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


stantine.  The  first  one  was  James,  the  brother  of  the  Lord, 
who  was  chosen  bishop  two  years  after  the  death  of  Christ. 
The  second  bishop  was  a  relative  of  the  Lord  by  the  name  of 
Simon.  He  was  crucified  in  the  time  of  Trajan,  107,  or  accord¬ 
ing  to  other  authorities  in  116,  and  was  then  120  years  old. 
Thus  he  was  born  13  years  B.  C.  and  had  served  as  bishop  in 
Jerusalem  seven  years  before  its  destruction  by  Titus  in  the 
year  70,  and  37  or  46  years  after  the  same.  We  must  acknowl¬ 
edge  that  this  man  knew  where  the  holy  places  were,  even  if 
the  destruction  had  been  worse  than  it  was.  It  is  unreasonable 
to  believe  that  the  holy  places  could  be  forgotten  in  an  age, 
when  the  teachings  of  Christ  were  spread  over  the  world  so 
rapidly,  and  when  thousands  came  to  the  Holy  City  to  visit 
the  sacred  places.  We  know  that  during  the  first  Pentecost 
after  the  ascension  of  Christ  three  thousand  souls  were  united 
with  the  mother  church  in  Jerusalem.  Of  course  we  bear  in 
mind  that  during  the  time  when  Titus  besieged  the  city,  many 
Christians  left  and  sought  refuge  in  the  mountain  city  of  Pella, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Jordan,  and  others  sought  refuge  in 
grottoes  and  caves  along  the  Cedron  valley.  But  there  were 
many  Christians  in  Jerusalem,  who  were  sick  and  feeble  and 
could  not  leave.  They  remained  among  the  ruins.  The  siege 
lasted  not  quite  five  months  and  as  soon  as  this  was  finished, 
the  people  returned.  We  can  hardly  believe  that  the 
Christians,  who  had  been  absent  only  five  months,  should  have 
forgotten  places  so  dear  to  them,  places  that  reminded  them  of 
so  much. 

We  have  already  told  the  reader  what  the  Emperor  Hadrian 
did  in  Jerusalem  in  his  endeavors  to  sweep  away  every  trace  of 
Judaism  and  Christianity  in  the  Holy  City.  He  built  a  Venus’ 
temple  over  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  having  first  of  all  made  it 
unclean,  and  placed  a  pile  of  dirt  over  the  grave. 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


When  the  Empress  Helena,  at  the  instigation  of  her  son, 
Constantine  the  Great,  visited  the  holy  places  in  326,  she  found 
that  the  Venus  temple  was  still  there,  profaning  the  Holy 
Sepulchre.  She  was  then  80  years  old.  Then  the  emperor 
wrote  to  the  bishop  in  Jerusalem,  Macarius,  that  he  should 
remove  the  Venus-temple  and  the  heap  of  dirt,  and  that  he 
should  build  a  church  on  the  spot  at  the  expense  of  the  em¬ 
peror.  Parts  of  this  church  are  still  left  at  the  present  time, 
and  the  crypt  of  that  church  of  Constantine  is  used  by  the 
Copts  as  a  cistern.  We  find  that  they  are  not  in  doubt  in  the 
least  as  to  where  the  holy  place  is  to  be  found.  The  place  was 
then  recognized  by  all.  The  church,  built  by  Constantine 
over  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  is  called  Anastasia  or  the  Resurrec¬ 
tion.  A  little  to  the  east  of  this  another  splendid  edifice  was 
erected,  called  Martyrion,  because  it  was  built  on  the  very 
place  where  St.  Helena  found  the  holy  cross.  Eukarius  (440) 
tells  us  of  a  church  over  Golgotha.  When  the  Persian  king, 
Chosroes,  614,  destroyed  these  churches,  they  are  said  to  have 
been  four  in  number,  and  were  at  once  rebuilt  on  the  very  same 
foundation,  only  to  be  torn  down  by  the  Mohammedans  in  1010. 
But  they  were  rebuilt  again.  The  crusaders  united  them 
under  the  same  roof,  and  thus  we  have  the  irregular  form  of 
this  church.  It  is  the  same  church  that  today  stands  there  on 
the  Holy  Place.  In  1818  this  edifice  was  somewhat  destroyed 
by  fire,  but  it  is  the  same  church  in  essentially  the  same  form. 
Now  I  wish  to  leave  this  matter  to  the  reader  to  determine, 
whether  there  is  any  reason  to  believe  that  the  place  is  the 
right  one. 

Let  us  now  enter  this  sanctuary.  A  wonderful  feeling 
passed  through  my  soul  as  I  placed  my  feet  on  the  floor  of  this 
church.  The  first  thing  to  occupy  my  mind  was  a  stone  on  the 
floor  of  the  church,  about  two  feet  wide,  six  feet  long,  and  one 


[  253  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


foot  high  above  the  floor.  They  were  celebrating  high  mass 
in  all  the  chapels  of  the  church  and  there  was  quite  a  loud  noise 
and  murmuring,  for  they  sang,  prayed,  and  read  in  every  cor¬ 
ner  of  the  building.  My  guide  remarked,  “How  much  better, 
if  they  would  preach  God’s  pure  word  in  this  historic  place!” 

I  stopped  in  front  of  the  stone  and  observed  how  the  pilgrims 
and  others  fell  down  on  their  knees  and  kissed  this  stone  very 
eagerly.  You  wonder  why?  The  report  is  that  the  body  of 
our  Saviour  was  placed  on  this  stone,  when  they  took  Him 
down  from  the  cross.  Remember  that  Golgotha  is  in  the  south¬ 
eastern  part  of  this  church  in  a  separate  chapel.  The  stone  is 
called  the  Stone  of  Ointment,  because  Joseph  of  Arimatha^a 
and  Nicodemus  are  said  to  have  placed  the  body  of  the  Lord 
on  this  stone,  when  they  “took  Jesus  and  wound  him  in  linen 
cloths  with  the  spices,  as  the  manner  of  the  Jews  is  to  bury” 
(Joh.  19:  40).  Very  quietly  we  walked  from  place  to  place, 
while  the  monks  were  saying  mass.  We  went  into  the  Coptic 
chapel  and  after  that  into  the  Syrian  Jacobite  chapel  in  the 
western  part  of  the  church.  There  we  stood  a  long  time  and 
watched  them,  reading  their  mass ;  and  I  must  confess  that  they 
left  a  repugnant  impression  on  us.  Some  of  the  monks  looked 
to  be  very  idiotic,  and  I  had  occasion  to  join  in  with  my  guide, 
Mr.  Aboosh,  “Too  bad,  that  the  pure  Gospel  of  Christ  is  not 
preached  here !”  In  a  Greek  chapel  they  *were  reading  respon¬ 
sively  selections  of  the  Scriptures  as  a  part  of  the  mass.  I  felt 
more  at  home  in  this  chapel.  Mr.  Aboosh  left  me  for  awhile. 
I  followed  him  out  into  the  street.  There  I  waited  until  the 
masses  were  over,  and  then  I  went  in  again,  because  I  felt  that 
I  must  have  a  little  while  with  my  Master  at  the  place  where 
he  was  crucified  for  me.  I  wanted  to  be  alone  at  such  a  time. 
Quietly  I  went  into  the  church,  which  at  this  time  was  almost 
empty;  the  mass  was  ended.  Only  a  few  monks  were  moving 

[254] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


around  in  the  various  chapels  and  pilgrims  here  and  there  were 
kneeling  at  the  various  altars.  Now  I  was  alone,  a  stranger,  and 
could  go  wherever  I  pleased.  I  determined  to  go  into  the  Gol¬ 
gotha  chapel.  This  belongs  to  the  Greeks,  has  no  windows,  and 
is  lighted  by  lamps.  The  altar  is  in  the  eastern  end  of  this  little 
shrine.  Under  the  altar  is  a  silver  plate  with  a  hole  in  it. 
Here  the  cross  is  said  to  have  stood.  A  very  peculiar  feeling 
passed  through  my  soul  and  I  felt  myself  drawn  to  the  hole 
under  the  altar.  The  next  moment  found  me  on  my  knees  by 
the  hole,  and  I  was  engaged  in  prayer  to  God,  thanking  Him 
for  the  atoning  blood  of  His  dear  Son,  my  blessed  Saviour. 
Tears  flowed  down  my  cheeks  and  I  felt  as  though  I  had  been 
carried  away  from  the  earth.  This  was  one  of  my  happiest 
moments  during  my  journeys  in  the  Land  of  Promise.  Having 
offered  prayer,  I  wandered  about,  engaged  in  deep  meditation 
on  the  great  events  that  have  taken  place  here.  Then  I  noticed 
some  other  places  of  interest  in  this  chapel.  A  little  distance 
to  the  south  of  the  place,  where  Christ  was  crucified,  the  spot 
is  found  where  one  of  the  robbers  was  crucified,  and  on  the 
north  side  the  other  hole  is  shown,  where  the  other  robber  was 
crucified.  About  six  feet  from  the  silver  plate  I  saw  the  naked 
rock  and  an  opening  in  it.  A  piece  of  board  is  placed  over  the 
cliff  at  that  place.  I  removed  the  piece  of  board  and  saw  the 
rift  very  clearly.  Here  we  remind  ourselves  of  the  words 
of  the  evangelist,  “And  the  earth  did  quake,  and  the  rocks 
rent.”  (Matt.  27 :  51.)  On  the  south  side  of  this  is  the  chapel 
of  crucifixion.  Here  Christ  was  nailed  to  the  cross.  The  altar 
painting  represents  the  act  of  crucifixion.  In  the  east  end  of 
the  room  the  very  place  is  shown  by  a  marble  slab  in  the  floor. 
The  chapels  belongs  to  the  Roman  Catholics.  Another  chapel 
on  the  south  side  of  the  crucifixion  is  called  the  Chapel  of  the 
suffering  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  Right  near  by  are  many  smaller 


[  255] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


rooms.  Here  on  Golgotha  is  the  Adam-chapel.  According  to 
a  Catholic  tradition  Adam  was  buried  on  this  hill,  and  when 
Christ  was  crucified,  blood  fell  down  on  Adam’s  skull  and 
resurrected  him.  This  is  only  a  monk  story,  but  there  is  a 
beautiful  thought  behind  this.  The  transgression  of  Adam 
brought  sin  into  the  world,  and  with  sin  came  death  and 
misery.  Christ  came  and  with  his  blood  granted  life  and  salva¬ 
tion  to  the  children  of  Adam. 

After  a  while  I  went  down  from  the  Golgotha  chapel,  and 
into  the  church  proper.  This  is  called  Catholicon  and  belongs 
to  the  Greeks.  On  this  place  stood  the  old  church  of  the 
crusaders.  This  edifice  was  built  on  the  place  where  the  gar¬ 
den  of  Joseph  was  located.  The  chapel  is  richly  decorated 
and  looks  rather  inviting.  Around  this  is  an  aisle.  If  we  fol¬ 
low  this  circular  aisle,  from  north  to  south,  we  come  first  of  all 
to  the  chapel  of  Saint  Longinus.  According  to  tradition  this 
man  was  the  soldier  who  pierced  the  side  of  Jesus  with  a  spear 
(Joh.  19:  34).  This  Longinus  was  blind  on  one  eye,  and  as  he 
did  open  the  side  of  the  Saviour  with  his  spear,  his  eye  was 
healed.  Later  he  became  a  Christian.  A  little  further  on  in 
the  aisle  there  is  a  little  chapel  where  the  soldiers  divided  the 
clothes  of  Jesus.  (John  19:23.)  And  now  we  come  to  the 
chapel  called  the  place  of  mockery.  Here  Christ  was  crowned 
with  a  crown  of  thorns.  While  we  are  here,  let  us  step  down 
into  the  St.  Helena  chapel.  The  basilica  of  Constantine,  or  the 
martyrion,  was  erected  here.  There  are  two  altars  in  this 
chapel.  One  is  dedicated  to  the  honor  of  the  Empress  Helena, 
and  the  other  is  sanctified  to  the  honor  of  the  penitent  robber. 
In  the  southeast  corner  of  this  chapel  is  a  stair,  leading  down 
13  steps.  In  this  place  St.  Helena  is  supposed  to  have  found 
the  holy  cross.  A  bronze  statue  of  the  Empress  with  a  cross  in 
the  hand  reminds  us  of  what  happened  here  during  her  visit  to 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


the  holy  places.  This  chapel,  which  once  upon  a  time  must 
have  been  a  cistern,  hewn  out  of  the  solid  rock,  has  not  always 
been  given  as  the  place  where  she  discovered  the  cross. 
Formerly  they  said  that  St.  Helena’s  chapel  was  the  place 
where  she  found  it.  While  I  was  down  in  these  rooms,  I 
observed  how  the  solid  rock  extended  right  up  to  the  Golgotha 
chapel.  By  careful  investigations  they  have  found  that  Gol¬ 
gotha  is  a  knob,  jutting  out  on  the  southern  part  of  Acra.  At 
one  time  the  top  of  Golgotha  must  have  been  about  90  feet 
higher  than  the  bottom  of  the  Tyropoean  Valley.  From  these 
chapels  I  went  up  into  the  western  part  of  the  church  proper. 
Here  in  the  middle  of  the  floor  is  the  little  chapel  containing 
the  Holy  Sepulchre.  The  Sepulchre  itself  is  in  the  middle  of 
the  floor  under  the  cupola.  This  little  chapel,  very  richly 
decorated  outside  and  within,  is  26  feet  long,  18  feet  wide,  and 
about  29  feet  high. 

Before  we  enter  this  wonderful  place,  let  us  consider  what 
you  will  see  if  you  stand  as  a  close  observer  in  front  of  the 
same.  To  this  place  pilgrims  are  coming  from  all  parts  of  the 
world.  Here  I  saw,  while  the  mass  was  going  on,  how  the  pil¬ 
grims  were  standing  with  uncovered  heads,  and  with  folded 
hands,  saying  their  prayers,  before  they  entered.  Some  take 
off  their  shoes,  because  they  consider  themselves  unworthy  to 
have  the  shoes  on  their  feet  when  they  come  in  on  such  holy 
ground ;  others  are  kneeling,  while  they  say  their  prayers.  In 
the  faces  of  those  who  worshipped  at  these  holy  places,  I 
observed  the  most  holy  reverence  and  devotion.  There  are 
some  who  creep  into  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  The  entrance  is  on 
the  east  side.  The  chapel  consists  of  two  parts.  The  first  is 
called  the  Chapel  of  the  Angels  and  there  are  fifteen  lamps 
burning  here.  In  the  middle  of  the  floor  is  a  stone  and  it  is 
supposed  to  be  one  that  the  angels  rolled  away,  and  sat  upon. 

[257] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


(Matt.  28 :  1-2.)  From  this  chapel  is  a  door  through  which  you 
enter  into  the  Sepulchre.  The  door  is  so  low  that  you  must 
bend  down  in  order  to  get  in  there.  There  are  43  lamps  in  this 
chapel.  When  you  enter,  you  find  a  marble  slab,  under  which 
you  see  the  stone  on  which  the  body  of  Christ  rested.  The 
whole  church  and  all  the  chapels  are  decorated  in  a  most 
luxurious  way ;  gold,  silver,  and  costly  stones  are  found  every¬ 
where.  These  have  been  placed  there  in  later  times,  thus 
spoiling  the  sacred  places.  It  is  supposed  that  when  the  church 
was  destroyed  by  the  Persians  in  614,  and  then  rebuilt  again, 
the  stone  around  the  Holy  Sepulchre  was  cut  away  and  only 
the  tomb  was  left.  If  you  would  remove  all  these  ornaments, 
you  would  find  the  old  rocks  that  were  there  originally  inside 
this  extraordinary  decoration.  During  my  visit  here  at  the 
time  of  the  mass,  there  were  so  many  worshippers,  that  I  could 
not  get  in ;  now  I  was  all  alone,  and  in  a  few  minutes  knelt 
at  the  tomb  of  the  Master,  thanking  him  for  His  victorious 
resurrection,  whereby  He  has  become  a  Prince  of  salvation  for 
them  that  believe.  Paul  affirms,  “If  Christ  be  not  risen,  then 
is  our  preaching  vain,  and  your  faith  is  also  vain.”  (I  Cor.  15: 
17.)  In  a  most  wonderful  manner  I  felt  the  significance  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  Lord,  and  with  a  thankful  heart  I  went  out 
of  His  grave,  which  as  far  as  I  can  judge,  is  the  right  one. 
Leaving  the  grave,  you  go  out  backwards,  so  as  not  to  turn 
your  back  on  the  holy  place.  The  place  round  about  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  is  in  the  form  of  a  circle,  and  a  number  of  small 
chapels  are  found  even  here.  On  the  west  side  of  the  Tomb  is 
the  chapel  of  the  Copts,  of  which  we  have  spoken  before.  On 
the  north  side  of  the  Sepulchre  is  the  Resurrection  chapel. 
This  belongs  to  the  Greeks.  At  this  place  Christ  is  supposed  to 
have  revealed  himself  to  his  mother,  the  Virgin  Mary.  Our 
New  Testament  says  nothing  about  that.  Among  other  things 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


of  interest  in  this  room  is  the  pillar  to  which  Jesus  was  bound 
when  He  was  scourged.  When  you  come  out  of  this,  you  have 
to  the  right  the  sacristy  of  the  Roman  Catholics.  Here  you 
will  find  many  relics  from  the  era  of  the  crusaders. 

Around  this  church  graves  have  been  found.  This  fact 
would  mean  something  for  the  correctness  of  the  place,  because 
the  Jews  did  not  wish  to  have  a  cemetery  within  the  walls. 
This  would  make  them  impure  in  accordance  with  the  cere¬ 
monial  law.  The  Jews  have  their  places  of  burial  at  a  certain 
distance  from  the  dwelling  places  of  man. 

This  place  has  a  great  interest  for  us  as  Christians,  and  no 
wonder  that  I  found  it  exceedingly  difficult  to  leave  it.  I  could 
not  free  myself  from  the  thought  that  here  the  great  wonder 
took  place,  the  most  wonderful  event  in  the  history  of  man,  the 
victorious  resurrection  of  the  Lord  and  Saviour.  How  much 
more  edifying  would  it  not  be,  if,  instead  of  these  masses,  there 
would  he  preaching  of  the  gospel  truth.  The  Protestant  tour¬ 
ist  as  a  pilgrim  in  these  holy  places  feels  a  certain  commiser¬ 
ation  with  those  who  are  thus  hound  in  the  fetters  of 
superstition  and  dead  orthodoxy.  A  reformation  is  very  neces¬ 
sary  here,  so  that  this  people  might  learn  to  know  the  liberating 
power  of  Jesus  Christ.  May  the  day  come  soon! 

After  awhile  my  guide  came  back  and  we  went  to  Muris- 
tan.  This  locality  is  quite  near  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  The 
German  church  of  the  Redeemer  is  in  the  northeastern  part  of 
it.  When  we  arrived,  the  sexton  was  there  already,  and  by  his 
permission  we  went  up  in  the  135-foot  high  tower,  from  which 
we  had  a  most  splendid  view  of  the  vicinity.  The  Frederick 
William  street  passes  along  Muristan  from  north  to  south,  and 
this  street  separates  the  Greek  and  the  German  quarters  in  this 
locality.  In  this  place  the  crusaders  erected  a  number  of 
buildings,  and  there  are  piles  of  ruins  dating  from  that  time. 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


It  proved  to  be  quite  a  task  to  go  up  in  the  tower,  but  we  were 
rewarded  greatly. 

At  the  time  of  the  regular  service  we  went  up  to  the 
American  church  in  the  New  City. The  pastor  delievered  a  good 
sermon  and  it  was  a  treat  to  hear  the  gospel  in  Jerusalem. 
Only  few  were  present  at  the  service  in  the  forenoon.  The 
people  attending  this  church  belong  to  another  American 
colony,  which  is  being  formed  in  the  New  Jerusalem,  to  the 
northwest  of  the  Jaffa  gate. 

In  the  afternoon  I  went  out  to  see  the  city  and  its  holy 
places.  I  wished  to  be  alone,  and  for  this  reason  I  did  not 
take  a  guide  with  me  on  my  wanderings  in  the  city  and  its 
surroundings.  The  obective  of  my  journey  this  afternoon  was 
Gethsemane  and  the  Mount  of  Olives.  I  went  to  the  Damascus 
gate. 

Turning  to  the  left,  I  followed  the  wall  with  the  Jeremiah 
grotto  to  the  left.  Past  the  Herod  gate  I  walked  on  in  the  hot 
sun,  and  came  at  last  to  the  northeast  corner  of  the  city.  Here 
I  turned  to  the  right,  following  the  walk  southward  to  the  Stephen 
gate  where  I  turned  to  the  left  and  followed  the  road  down  into 
the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat.  Before  I  went  down  into  this  romantic 
valley  I  carefully  observed  the  mountain  just  in  front  of  me,  a 
mountain  so  often  spoken  of  in  the  Scripture.  Right  before 
me  was  Gethsemane.  Having  observed  this  wonderful  pano¬ 
rama  for  some  time,  I  went  down  into  the  valley  and  crossed 
the  bridge  which  leads  over  the  brook  Cedron.  There  is  no 
water  there  now,  but  in  the  winter  you  will  find  water  in  this 
valley.  From  this  place  there  are  four  roads,  leading  over  the 
Mount  of  Olives.  One  facing  in  a  southeasterly  direction  goes 
to  Jericho,  passing  by  the  Mount  of  Offence  ;  another  brings  you 
straight  to  the  place  called  the  Graves  of  the  Prophets ;  a  third 
one  to  the  place  where  Jesus  wept  over  the  city;  and  a  fourth 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


one  in  a  northeasterly  direction  to  Yiri  Galilaei,  and  the  Ger¬ 
man  Hospital.  To  the  left  of  the  bridge,  a  little  distance 
further  north,  is  the  chapel  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  She  is  supposed 
to  be  buried  there.  The  church  is  without  doubt  built  on  the 
ruins  of  an  older  one.  It  is  on  the  bank  of  Cedron. 

Now  let  us  enter  the  garden  of  Gethsemane.  Outside  the 
gate  you  observe  large,  flat  stones.  On  these  stones  the 
disciples  slept  when  Jesus  was  praying,  a  stone’s  cast  from 
here.  The  gate  was  open  and  I  entered.  It  is  very  low. 
There  is  a  reason  for  it.  He  who  wishes  to  follow  the  Master 
in  his  sufferings,  must  bend  deep  down  in  the  dust  and  learn 
humility.  This  you  will  learn  in  the  valley  of  sufferings. 
Having  come  through  the  gate,  I  met  the  good  old  Franciscan 
monk,  who  received  me  very  cordially.  He  told  another  monk, 
who  also  was  in  the  garden,  to  pick  some  flowers  and  give  them 
to  me.  He  did  so  and  I  gave  him  one  franc  as  bakschisch.  He 
gave  me  permission  to  sit  down  and  rest,  and  I  did  so,  reading 
the  story  of  Christ’s  suffering  in  this  garden.  It  was  a  very 
interesting  hour.  As  I  looked  northward  along  the  valley  I 
had  the  Holy  City  to  the  left  and  the  interesting  Mount  of 
Olives  to  the  right.  The  evangelist  Luke  says,  “And  He  came 
out,  and  went,  as  He  was  wont,  to  the  Mount  of  Olives ;  and  His 
disciples  also  followed  Him.  And  when  He  was  at  the  place 
(Gethsemane),  He  said  unto  them,  Pray  that  ye  enter  not  into 
temptation.  And  He  was  withdrawn  from  them  about  a 
stone’s  cast,  and  kneeled  down  and  prayed,  saying,  Father,  if 
thou  be  willing,  remove  this  cup  from  me:  nevertheless  not  my 
will,  but  thine,  be  done.  And  there  appeared  an  angel  unto 
Him  from  heaven  strengthening  him.  And  being  in  an  agony 
He  prayed  more  earnestly :  and  His  sweat  was  as  it  were  great 
drops  of  blood  falling  down  to  the  ground.  And  when  He 
rose  up  from  prayer,  and  was  come  to  His  disciples,  He  found 


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them  sleeping  for  sorrow.  And  he  said  nnto  them,  “Why 
sleep  ye?  Rise  and  pray,  lest  ye  enter  into  temptation.”  (Luke 
23 :  39-46.)  Here  it  was  that  you,  my  dear  Saviour,  tasted  the 
bitterness  of  sin,  when  you  drank  the  cup  of  suffering  for  the 
sins  of  the  world,  that  very  cup,  which  we  should  have  drunk 
to  the  bottom,  because  of  our  sins  and  transgressions.  Sin  is 
the  most  fearful  spectacle  in  this  world.  It  is  sin  that  has 
spread  woe  and  condemnation  in  this  world  and  caused  the 
Holy  and  Pure  One  to  sweat  blood.  A  stone’s  cast  from 
Gethsemane  and  we  are  at  the  Grotto  of  Suffering.  Here  it 
was  that  our  Saviour  drank  the  bitter  cup  and  did  sweat  blood. 
The  monk  that  followed  me  to  this  grotto  spoke  German,  and 
was  very  willing  to  explain  the  various  localities.  There  are 
eight  old  olive  trees  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane.  The  garden 
is  only  150  feet  long  and  100  feet  wide.  There  are  beds  of 
flowers  and  quite  a  few  cypress  trees  within  these  stone  walls. 
To  this  place  Judas  came  in  the  night,  when  Jesus  was  be¬ 
trayed.  We  know  this  story  and  realize  how  he  rewarded  his 
blessed  Master  for  the  love  and  kindness  bestowed  upon  him. 
The  reward  of  the  world  is  thanklessness. 

Now  let  us  continue  our  journey  up  the  Mount  of  Olives. 
The  sun  was  so  warm  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Mount  that  I 
was  obliged  to  stop  in  order  to  rest.  I  looked  back  on  the 
highly  interesting  view  before  me.  The  higher  I  came,  the 
more  glorious  the  sight.  At  last  I  arrived  at  the  place  called 
the  Graves  of  the  Prophets.  This  place  is  so  called,  because 
some  of  the  prophets  are  said  to  have  been  buried  here. 

This  is  no  mountain  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word,  only  a 
ridge,  situated  2,665  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  place 
where  we  are  now  standing  is  not  the  highest  part  of  the 
mountain.  The  Graves  of  the  Prophets  are  a  little  to  the  south 
east  from  Gethsemane,  and  straight  east  from  the  south  east 


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corner  of  the  wall.  Here  I  found  many  subterranean  tombs, 
and  as  I  was  walking  along,  I  almost  fell  into  some  of  them, 
because  of  the  rubbish  which  had  gathered  before  the  opening. 
No  one  knows  when  these  tombs  were  cut  and  nothing  is 
known  of  their  history.  Nothing  has  ever,  as  far  as  it  is 
known,  been  found  in  them..  To  the  south  of  us  we  have  the 
Mount  of  Offence,  right  by  the  road  leading  to  Bethany.  This 
Mount  is  the  lowest  of  all  the  points  of  the  Olives.  Think  of 
the  history  connected  with  this  Mount !  The  first  time  it  is 
spoken  of  in  the  Scriptures  is  in  connection  with  the  flight  of 
David  for  his  son,  Absalom.  Concerning  this  flight  we  read, 
“David  said  to  Ittai,  “Go  and  pass  over.  And  Ittai,  the  Gittite 
passed  over,  and  all  his  men,  and  all  the  little  ones  that  were 
with  him.  And  all  the  country  wept  with  a  loud  voice,  and  all 
the  people  passed  over:  the  king  also  himself  passed  over  the 
brook  Cedron,  and  all  the  people  passed  over,  toward  the  way 
of  the  wilderness.  And  David  went  up  by  the  ascent  of 
Olive,  and  wept  as  he  went  up,  and  had  his  head  covered,  and 
he  went  barefoot :  and  all  the  people  that  were  with  him 
covered  every  man  his  head,  and  went  up,  weeping  as  they 
went.  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  when  David  was  come  to  the 
top  of  the  mount,  where  he  worshipped  God,  behold  Hushai,  the 
Archite  came  to  meet  him  with  his  coat  rent,  and  earth  upon  his 
head/’  (II  Sam.  15:22-23;  15:30-32.)  We  are  not  informed  as 
to  what  part  of  the  mountain  he  crossed.  Perhaps  he  crossed 
straight  over  the  top,  otherwise  there  is  a  sag  in  the  Mountain 
between  the  Mount  of  Offence  and  the  Mount  of  Ascension.  In 
this  sag  the  road  leads  to  Bethany.  About  the  Mount  of  Of¬ 
fence  we  read,  “Then  did  Solomon  build  a  high  place  for 
Chemosh,  the  abomination  of  Moab,  in  the  hill  that  is  before 
Jerusalem,  and  for  Molech,  the  abomination  of  the  children  of 
Ammon”  (I  Kings  11:7).  We  are  not  told  where  this  high 

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place  was  located,  but  tradition  points  to  the  mount  of  Offence, 
and  this  is  perhaps  the  right  place.  Because  of  this  circum¬ 
stance  this  mount  is  to  have  received  its  name.  This  hill  is  quite 
barren.  There  are  no  trees  on  it. 

From  the  graves  of  the  Prophets,  where  I  was  walking 
about  for  a  long  time,  studying  the  various  localities,  I  con¬ 
tinued  my  journey  to  the  Mount  of  Ascension,  where  the 
Church  of  Ascension  is  located.  The  place  is  very  picturesque, 
but  this  is  not  the  highest  part  of  the  Mount.  The  Empress 
Helena  built  a  church  here  in  326.  This  was  in  the  form  of  an 
octagon  with  a  cupola  without  roof.  The  church  has  been  torn 
down  several  times,  but  rebuilt  again  on  the  very  same  spot. 
The  present  building  was  erected  in  1187  and  belongs  at 
present  to  the  Mohammedans.  The  Christians  may  have  ser¬ 
vices  here  every  Ascension  day.  In  the  middle  of  the  church 
there  is  a  part  of  the  Mountain  visible,  and  in  the  same  is  a 
mark  of  a  foot.  This  is  supposed  to  be  a  mark  of  the  Saviour’s 
foot,  when  He  ascended  to  Heaven.  But  this  is  not  the  right 
place.  You  can  see  this  from  the  story  of  the  evangelist 
Luke. 

“And  He  led  them  out  as  far  as  to  Bethany,  and  He  lifted 
up  His  hands  and  blessed  them.  And  it  came  to  pass,  while  He 
blessed  them,  He  was  parted  from  them,  and  carried  up  into 
heaven.  And  they  worshipped  Him  and  returned  to  Jerusalem 
with  great  joy.  And  were  continually  in  the  temple,  praising 
and  blessing  God.”  (Luke  24:  50-53.)  From  this  it  is  clear 
that  He  led  them  out  towards  Bethany.  That  town  you  can¬ 
not  see  from  Jerusalem,  nor  from  the  top  of  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  because  there  is  a  ridge  that  hides  it  from  view.  Of 
course  Luke  says  that  they  returned  to  Jerusalem  from  the 
mount  called  Olivet,  which  is  from  Jerusalem  a  sabbath  day’s 
journey  (Act  1 :  12),  but  he  says  nothing  about  the  place.  The 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


ascension  must  have  taken  place  somewhere  towards  Bethany 
on  the  Mount  of  Olives.  This  was  more  in  accordance  with  the 
nature  of  such  an  event.  For  this  reason  He  chose  a  more 
secluded  place. 

A  little  to  the  east  of  the  Church  of  Ascension  is  a  higher 
place,  where  we  have  a  very  good  view  of  the  whole  vicinity. 
There  is  no  place  on  our  globe  where  you  can  look  down  upon 
such  historic  surroundings  as  from  this  place.  Yonder  in  the 
wrest  is  the  Holy  City  with  its  thousands  of  memories ;  in  the 
north  we  see  Mizpa,  Rama,  Bethel,  Ophra,  and  Gibeah  in  Ben¬ 
jamin;  in  the  east  we  notice  the  Dead  Sea  and  Jordan;  moun¬ 
tains  of  Moab  with  Nebo,  where  Moses  longingly  beheld  the 
Land  of  Promise ;  in  the  northeast  is  Perea  with  its  thousands 
and  thousands  of  memories  from  past  ages ;  in  the  south,  Beth¬ 
lehem  is  seen  on  its  mountain  ridge,  and  to  the  southwest, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Mount  of  Evil  Council,  we  notice  the 
plain  of  Rephaim  and  many  other  important  places,  spoken  of 
in  the  Scripture.  Here  I  stood  a  long  time,  trying  to  impress 
this  picture  upon  my  mind.  On  the  top  of  the  mountain  is  an 
Arab  village  called  Cepher  et-Tur.  The  Church  of  Ascension 
is  located  in  this  village.  In  the  eastern  part  of  this  is  the  Rus¬ 
sian  church  with  its  180-foot  high  tower.  In  this  tower  you 
have  a  most  excellent  view  of  the  country.  Near  by  this 
church  I  met  some  Arab  women,  who  with  their  hands  out¬ 
stretched  cried  out,  “Bakschisch,  chawadje.”  I  extended  my 
hand  and  said  “Atheni  bakschish!”  Then  they  laughed  and 
went  away. 

Continuing  my  wanderings,  I  came  to  that  part  of  the 
Mount  of  Olives  called  Viri  Galilaei.  Before  I  came  to  this 
part,  I  passed  a  little  sag  in  the  ridge.  Here  is  where  the  road 
goes  to  Bethany.  The  place  where  the  disciples  saw  the  two 
men  in  white  robes  is  indicated  by  two  white  pillars. 


[  2G5  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


I  returned  to  the  colony,  taking  the  same  road  on  which 
I  had  come.  Near  the  Church  of  Ascension  I  met  some  Greek 
priests  with  high,  black  caps.  They  spoke  French  and  ex¬ 
plained  something  about  the  locality. 

Nearby  the  place,  where  I  met  the  priests,  is  the  spot 
where  Christ  wept  over  Jerusalem.  On  Palm  Sunday  He  came 
from  Bethany  over  the  Mount  of  Olives  to  Jerusalem.  “And 
when  He  was  come  near,  He  beheld  the  city,  and  wept  over  it.” 
(Luke  19:  41.)  Now  it  depends  upon  where  Bethphage  was 
located.  Some  Bible  students  hold  that  this  town  was  located 
somewhere  along  the  road  leading  from  Jerusalem  to  Bethany, 
by  way  of  the  Mount  of  Offence ;  but  by  excavations  in  later 
times  they  have  found  evidences  that  Bethphage  was  situated 
between  Bethany  and  Cepher  et-Tur,  not  far  from  the  Russian 
church.  It  is  likely  that  this  is  the  right  place.  The  early 
tradition  points  to  a  place  on  the  western  slope  of  the  mountain 
between  Gethsemane  and  Mount  of  Ascension.  This  place  can¬ 
not  be  the  right  one,  because  long  before  He  came  to  this  place, 
He  saw  the  city. 

Having  left  the  Greek  priests,  I  returned  to  the  tombs  of 
the  Prophets;  where  I  read  the  story  of  Christ’s  entry  into 
Jerusalem,  and  then  returned  to  Gethsemane.  Here  I  sat  down 
awhile  until  the  sun  set  below  the  mountains  of  Judah.  The 
moon  shone  in  the  west,  and  some  stars  began  to  appear  on  the 
firmament.  Then  I  returned,  leaving  the  Franciscan  monks  in 
the  garden,  and  went  homeward,  thinking  of  what  I  had  seen 
during  the  day,  my  first  Sunday  in  Jerusalem.  How  could  I 
leave  Him  out  of  my  mind,  who  2,000  years  ago  was  walking 
down  in  this  locality  with  his  disciples,  prepared  to  suffer  and 
to  die.  Walking  by  the  Stephen  gate  and  along  the  northern 
wall  to  the  Damascus  gate,  I  came  to  my  room  in  the  Colony. 
It  was  dark  when  I  returned,  but  the  day  was  well  spent.  I 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


had  seen  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane,  Mount  of  Olives,  and  its 
wonderful  surroundings,  Golgotha  and  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 
With  these  thoughts  in  my  mind  I  went  to  bed  and  slept  well 
till  the  following  morning. 

Monday,  September  20th,  I  went  out  again  alone.  This 
time  I  went  to  see  the  monuments  along  the  Jehoshaphat  and 
Ben-Hinnom  valleys.  Following  the  same  route  as  the  day 
before,  I  came  to  Gethsemane,  and  followed  the  valley  south¬ 
ward.  On  the  slope  of  the  Mount  of  Olives  by  the  roadside  to 
Bethany  is  a  very  large  Jewish  cemetery  with  thousands  of 
monuments  and  the  inscriptions  are,  of  course,  in  Hebrew.  To 
the  right  as  we  proceed  down  the  valley  is  the  Golden  gate. 
The  valley  is  very  deep  and,  no  doubt,  it  has  been  still  deeper. 
There  are  many  graves  here.  Deep  down  in  the  valley  is  the 
grave  of  Jehoshaphat.  This  is  cut  out  in  the  hill  and  is  quite 
large.  Only  the  entrance  is  visible.  The  Jews  have  closed  up 
the  doorway.  This  sepulchre  is  named  after  the  king  in  Judah, 
Jehosaphat,  who  was  buried  here,  “and  slept  with  his  father.” 
(I  Kings  22:  51.)  Nearby  is  the  monument  of  Absalom.  This 
is  cut  out  from  the  hill  and  is  free  from  it.  On  the  top  of  this 
monument  there  is  a  kind  of  a  tower.  The  whole  height  is  52 
feet.  Now  concerning  this  we  read,  “Absalom  in  his  lifetime 
had  taken  and  reared  up  for  himself  a  pillar,  which  is  in  the 
king’s  dale:  for  he  said,  I  have  no  son  to  keep  my  name  in 
remembrance  :  and  he  called  the  pillar  after  his  own  name  :  and 
it  is  called  unto  this  day,  Absalom’s  place”  (II  Kings  18:  18.) 
No  Jew  goes  by  this  place  without  spitting  on  it  or  throwing  a 
stone  at  it.  Not  far  from  this  is  Saint  James’  tomb.  This  is 
also  cut  out  in  the  mountain  and  there  are  several  rooms 
therein.  Four  Doric  pillars  stand  at  the  entrance.  The 
church  historian  Eusebius  reminds  us,  “that  James,  the  brother 
of  the  Lord  and  the  first  bishop  in  Jerusalem,  was  thrown  down 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


from  the  pinnacles  of  the  temple,  and  while  he  yet  lived,  he 
was  killed  with  the  club  of  a  clothes  washer.  He  was  buried 
on  spot,  and  his  monument  is  by  the  temple.”  (Eusebius  Church 
Hist.  2:  23.)  But  Josephus  says  of  the  same  man  that  he  was 
Stoned  by  the  high  priest  Ananias  II.  (Jos.  Hist.  20:  91.)  In 
accordance  with  investigations  within  the  sepulchre  it  has  been 
found  that  this  must  have  been  made  before  the  destruction  of 
the  Holy  City  70  A.  D.,  and  after  the  time  of  Alexander  the 
Great  (323).  Besides  this  there  is  another  tomb  called  the 
Sacharias.  Just  like  the  pillar  of  Absalom,  this  one  is  cut  out 
of  the  mountain.  No  one  seems  to  know  anything  about  this 
tomb.  Along  the  foot  of  the  Mount  of  Olives  there  are  a  great 
many  graves,  and  it  looks  as  though  this  has  been  a  cemetery  in 
the  olden  times.  Having  passed  a  little  further  onward,  I  saw 
the  village,  Cepher  Silwam.  This  is  an  Arab  village  on  the  slope 
of  the  Mount  of  Offence.  It  is  very  steep  here  and  the  houses 
are  perched  like  birds’  nests  along  the  side  of  the  mountain. 
The  report  about  the  people  in  that  village  is  that  they  are  very 
hostile  and  drive  strangers  away  by  throwing  stones.  I  began 
to  wonder  how  I  would  get  by  this  place,  especially  as  I  was 
alone.  But  I  walked  along  and  no  one  seemed  inclined  to  hurt 
me.  I  continued  my  journey  down  the  valley  until  I  came  to 
the  place  where  the  two  unite,  and  a  little  further  down.  Here 
I  met  some  Arabs,  and  inasmuch  as  this  vicinity  is  not  con¬ 
sidered  safe,  I  did  not  go  any  further,  but  looked  over  every¬ 
thing  very  carefully.  At  the  place  where  these  valleys  meet, 
there  is  on  the  southwestern  slope  of  the  Mount  of  Offence  a 
village  for  leprous  people.  Here  these  poor  people  live  in 
hovels,  separated  from  the  rest  of  humanity.  And  yet  they 
have  the  right  to  go  into  the  city  and  out  into  the  country,  if 
they  so  desire.  A  good  many  of  them,  who  live  a  regular  vaga¬ 
bond  life  on  the  streets,  begging  for  their  support,  have  a 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


chance  to  live  in  the  hospital  for  the  leprous,  but  they  would 
rather  be  free  and  shift  for  themselves.  It  is  a  pitiable  sight 
to  see  them  sit  here  and  there  on  the  streets  with  a  little  cup  at 
their  side  begging.  Often  their  hands  and  parts  of  their  feet 
are  consumed  by  this  terrible  disease.  At  times  the  flesh  is 
gone  and  the  bone  is  bare.  The  voice  becomes  hoarse  and  they 
whisper  these  words,  “Lepros,  bakschisch,  ja,  chawadje”  (I  am 
leprous,  give  a  present,  mister).  The  leprous  people  are  per¬ 
mitted  to  marry  and  hence  the  disease  is  continually  spread. 
This  should  be  forbidden  and  it  would  help  matters  a  great 
deal. 

Right  opposite  Cepher  Silwam,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
valley,  and  on  the  eastern  end  of  the  Hill  of  Evil  Council,  is 
Aceldama,  the  Field  of  Blood.  On  the  north  side  of  this  field 
is  Ben  Hinnom  and  on  the  east,  the  Jehoshaphat  valleys.  This 
field  is  bare  and  desolate.  It  is  really  a  ridge  leaning  towards 
the  northeast.  Judas,  who  knew  in  his  conscience  that  he  had 
betrayed  innocent  blood,  could  not  keep  the  blood-money,  but 
went  away  and  threw  it  in  the  treasury.  Then  they  bought 
with  this  money  the  potter’s  field  for  a  burial  place  for 
strangers,  and  thus  it  is  called  the  Field  of  Blood.  (Matt.  27 :  3- 
10 ;  Acts  1 :  18-19.)  This  time  I  did  not  go  up  to  Acaldama,  but 
was  satisfied  with  the  good  view  I  had  of  it  in  the  valley.  Right 
opposite  the  village  of  the  leprous  down  in  the  valley  is  the 
well  Ain  Rogel,  or  Joab’s,  or  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  Nehemiah’s 
well.  The  boundary  line  between  Judah  and  Benjamin  passed 
along  here  somewhere.  Josephus  relates  that  the  parks  of 
David  were  located  in  this  section.  (Jos.  Hist.  7:  14:  4.)  The 
well  of  Joab  is  120  feet  deep  and  receives  water  during  the 
rainy  season  only.  It  is  fed  by  no  spring.  Here  I  saw  numbers 
of  dirty  Arab  women  with  their  leather  bags,  trying  to  fill  them 
with  water.  They  walk  around  in  the  water  with  their  dirty 

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feet,  they  fill  their  leather  sacs  and  bring  them  home  to  drink 
it.  Really  I  do  not  think  that  onr  horses  and  cows  could 
imbibe  this  dirty  liquid. 

Walking  along  in  the  valley,  I  came  to  the  place  where 
the  old  Gehenna  was  located.  The  citizens  of  Jerusalem 
carried  out  a  lot  of  refuse  through  the  Dung  gate  and 

placed  it  here.  As  a  consequence,  there  was  a  constant 
fire  burning  here.  This  fire,  burning  night  and  day, 
became  an  emblem  of  hell,  the  “fire  that  never  shall 
be  quenched”  (Mark  9:43).  Walking  along  Ophel  north¬ 

ward,  I  came  to  the  dam  Siloam.  This  is  situated  quite  a 
ways  up  the  ridge  and  opposite  Cepher  Silwam.  The  dam  is 
small,  but  has  a  most  glorious  history.  It  is  53  feet  long,  18 

feet  wide,  and  19  feet  deep.  A  little  to  the  west  of  this  dam  is 

the  Tyropoean  valley.  The  dam  is  about  1,000  feet  distant 
from  the  Hill  of  Moriah,  and  is  spoken  of  four  times  in  the 
Scriptures  (Is.  8:6;  Neh.  3:15;  John  9:7;  Luke  13  :  4).  Siloam 
receives  its  water  from  the  Virgin  fountain  through  a  subter¬ 
ranean  duct,  perhaps  cut  out  in  the  time  of  Hezekiah.  About 
twenty-five  feet  from  the  opening  of  this  tunnel  into  Siloam 
there  were  found  some  Hebrew  inscriptions  and  these  inscrip¬ 
tions  tell  us  that  the  work  on  this  tunnel  was  carried  on  from 
both  ends,  that  the  laborers  met  in  the  middle,  and  that  the 
length  is  2,400  feet.  Mr.  Condor,  who  measured  the  tunnel, 
says  that  it  is  1,706  feet  long.  Josephus  gives  the  information, 
that  the  water  flowed  abundantly  in  this  fountain  and  that  it 
was  sweet.  During  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  water  was  carried 
in  a  silver  vessel  from  Siloam  to  the  temple,  where  amidst  great 
rejoicings,  it  was  poured  upon  the  altar.  Even  here  I  saw  some 
Arab  women  walk  along  in  the  water,  filling  their  jars.  They 
came  from  the  village  Silwam.  The  poor  people  in  this  vicin- 


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ity  bring  water  from  this  dam.  Everything  looked  to  be  in  a 
dilapidated  condition  in  and  around  this  historic  place. 

From  here  we  move  on  to  the  Virgin  fountain.  This  is  the 
only  spring-well  in  Jerusalem.  A  staircase  of  16  steps  leads 
us  down  to  the  floor  and  from  this  there  is  another  staircase  of 
13  steps  down  to  the  water.  This  well  or  fountain  is  not 
spoken  of  in  the  Bible,  unless  it  is  the  Dragon  well,  spoken  of  in 
Nehemiah  2 :  13.  From  there  it  is  only  a  little  distance  to  the 
Dung-gate.  Outside  of  this  there  was  a  heap  of  refuse,  thrown 
there  by  the  people,  and  I  noticed  that  they  have  put  fire  to  it 
and  here  is  thus  another  Gehenna,  only  a  little  further  to  the 
north,  and  nearer  the  wall.  Let  us  not  forget,  though,  that  the 
wall  went  further  down  towards  the  valley  in  the  ancient 
times.  Entering  the  gate  I  walked  along  the  street  a  little 
distance,  but  there  was  a  fearful  smell  here,  my  nose  protested 
in  going  further,  and  so  I  returned  to  the  gate.  My  experience 
here  was  of  the  same  nature  as  in  Stambul  in  Constantinople. 
Following  the  wall  to  the  southwest,  I  came  to  the  Zion  hill. 
The  road  is  steep,  and  the  sun  was  very  warm  that  morning. 

Outside  of  the  Zion  gate  is  the  tomb  of  David.  This  is  a 
complexity  of  buildings.  The  minaret  signifies  that  the  prop¬ 
erty  belongs  to*  the  Mohammedans.  David,  Solomon,  and  eight 
other  kings  were  buried  in  the  city  of  David  on  Mount  Zion. 
In  the  book  of  Nehemiah  3:  16  we  read  of  David’s  sepulcher 
in  this  Mount.  According  to  the  story  of  Josephus,  Johan 
Hyrcanus  and  King  Herod  opened  the  grave  of  David  and  took 
a  great  deal  of  gold  and  silver  (Jos.  Hist.  7:  15:  3;  16:  7:  1). 
In  the  days  of  the  Apostles  the  tomb  of  David  was  shown  on 
Zion  (Acts  2:29).  In  the  present  tomb  of  David  there  is  only 
a  large  coffin,  and  this  is  shown  by  the  Mohammedans  as 
David’s,  but  according  to  Scripture  there  must  be  several  of 
them.  The  legend  that  makes  this  the  tomb  of  David  is  not 


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older  than  1450  A.  D.  The  minaret  which  we  mentioned  stands 
by  a  mosque  that  once  upon  a  time  was  a  church.  In  this  is  a 
hall  in  which  Christ  came  together  with  his  disciples  when  He 
instituted  the  Lord’s  supper.  The  hall  is  now  called  Coena- 
culum.  Epiphanius,  bishop  of  Salamis  on  the  island  of  Cyprus 
(403),  relates  that  when  the  emperor  of  Rome  came  into  the  city 
130  A.  D.  it  was  in  ruins  with  the  exception  of  a  certain  house 
and  a  little  church  on  Zion,  in  the  upper  pinnacled  story  in 
which  the  apostles  gathered,  when  they  came  back  from  the 
Mount  of  Olives  after  the  ascension  of  Christ.  This  story  of 
Epiphanius  is  by  some  considered  unreliable,  inasmuch  as  the 
Pilgrim  of  Bordeaux  does  not  mention  this  church.  For  a 
long  time  the  Christians  were  permitted  to  celebrate  the  Lord’s 
supper  in  this  hall,  but  later  on  they  were  forbidden  to  enter  at 
the  risk  of  their  life.  Dr.  F.  S.  de  Hass  succeeded  once  during 
the  midnight,  while  the  guards  slept,  in  entering  this  building. 
But  he  took  his  life  in  his  hands  for  he  was  in  danger  every  mo¬ 
ment.  He  has  given  us  a  description  of  the  tomb  of  David,  and 
adds  that,  if  it  is  not  to  be  found  within  the  building,  it  is  quite 
nearby  here.  The  pilgrims  are  permitted  to  enter  several 
rooms  in  this  building  under  the  guidance  of  a  Mohammedan. 
Perhaps  the  great  king  of  Israel  will  be  found  some  time  in  the 
crypt  on  Zion?  Wonderful  things  happen  in  these  days. 

At  a  little  distance  from  the  tomb  of  David  is  the  building 
Dormition.  According  to  tradition  the  mother  of  Jesus  died 
here.  In  1898  the  Emperor  of  Germany  procured  this  place  and 
gave  it  to  the  Catholics,  who  have  now  erected  a  church  here. 
During  my  stay  in  the  city  I  went  to  see  this  building,  which 
was  then  being  built.  From  the  tower  there  is  a  most  excellent 
view  of  the  city  and  especially  of  Zion.  The  Zion  gate  is  quite 
near  by.  Now  I  went  to  the  school  of  Bishop  Gobat.  This  is 
located  on  the  southern  slope  of  Mount  Zion,  not  far  from  the 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


tomb  of  David.  The  school  was  not  yet  in  session.  The  watch¬ 
man ’s  wife  opened  and  received  me  into  their  house.  His  name 
was  Baz  and  both  of  them  spoke  English  fairly  well.  She  gave 
me  lemonade  and  besides  some  view  cards.  This  was  a  God¬ 
fearing  family  and  it  was  a  pleasure  to  be  with  them  for  some 
time.  They  asked  me  to  call  again,  but  my  time  was  too 
limited.  They  took  me  through  the  school,  showing  me  the 
dining  room,  the  recitation  halls,  the  chapel,  the  students’ 
rooms,  and  library.  Surely  this  is  quite  an  institution ! 

The  following  morning,  September  21, 1  signed  the  contract 
for  my  journeys  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  Having  done 
this,  I  went  out  again  to  see  the  city.  This  time  I  went  down 
through  Ben  Hinnom  valley  and  to  the  Mount  of  Evil  Council, 
on  the  south  side  of  this  valley.  Here  the  ruins  of  the  house  or 
villa  of  Caiaphas  are  still  shown.  From  here  I  went  to  Acel¬ 
dama.  There  I  remained  a  long  time,  looking  into  the  old 
tombs.  The  ridge  is  quite  bare  and  but  little  soil  is  to  be 
seen  on  the  stones  or  cliffs.  A  great  quantity  of  thorns  and 
thistles  grow  here.  Because  of  sin  the  earth  is  bringing  forth 
thorns  and  thistles,  and  is  subject  to  condemnation.  As  I  was 
walking  along  here  the  words  of  Saint  Paul  resounded  in  my 
soul,  “The  wages  of  sin  is  death”.  Think  of  the  opportunities 
given  this  man,  Judas !  He  misused  them  and  they  were  lost. 
Then  when  he  saw  the  fulness  of  his  iniquity,  it  proved  to  be 
more  than  he  could  bear.  Those  who  had  led  him  astray  did 
not  wish  to  help  him  in  any  way.  He  confessed  the  innocence 
of  His  Master,  when  he  said,  “I  have  sinned  in  that  I  have 
betrayed  the  innocent  blood.”  And  they  said,  “What  is  that  to 
us,  see  thou  to  that.”  (Matt.  27:  4.)  Such  are  the  worldly 
minded,  and  such  they  have  been  all  the  time.  The  only  con¬ 
solation  that  Judas  knew  was  the  rope.  He  went  away  and 
hanged  himself.  A  fearful  end !  To  me  it  seemed  that  every 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


grave,  every  thorn-bush,  and  every  thistle  was  telling  the  story 
of  misused  grace.  Here  I  thought  of  our  young  people  and  of 
the  great  dangers  that  surround  them.  God  grant  that  they 
may  be  kept  by  His  mighty  hand  in  His  fear  and  love ! 

Now  I  continued  my  walk  down  to  the  place,  where  the 
Ben  Hinnom  unites  with  the  Jehoshaphat.  Here  is  the  place 
where  the  children  of  Israel  during  the  reign  of  the  Idolatrous 
kings,  Ahab,  Manasse,  and  Amon,  were  sacrificing  their  chil¬ 
dren  to  Moloch  or  Baal-Moloch  (II  Chr.  28  :  3  :  33  :  6 ;  II  Chr.  23  : 
10).  From  here  I  went  up  the  Cedron  valley  to  the  place  where 
I  had  been  the  day  before.  Here  the  English  are  excavating  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  Virgin  fountain,  and  on  the  east  slope 
of  Ophel.  They  are  excavating  under  the  supervision  of  Turk¬ 
ish  policemen,  and  those  who  were  carrying  on  the  excavation, 
had  made  agreement  with  the  sultan  that  should  anything  be 
found,  they  would  send  such  findings  to  the  museum  at  Con¬ 
stantinople.  They  were  carrying  on  their  work  in  all  secrecy 
and  were  searching  for  the  crown  of  Solomon  and  his  treasures 
with  the  covenant  ark.  May  they  be  successful  in  their 
endeavors ! 

A  little  distance  beyond  the  pillar  of  Absalom  I  went  to 
the  right  and  came  upon  the  road  leading  to  Bethany.  Follow¬ 
ing  this  road  for  quite  a  distance,  I  turned  to  the  left  and  went 
to  Bethphage,  following  the  way  that  the  Master  went  along, 
when  He  rode  into  the  city  on  that  memorable  Palm  Sunday. 
Among  the  ruins  of  Bethphage  the  Catholics  have  erected  a 
church.  Into  this  village  the  Lord  sent  his  disciples  to  secure 
an  ass,  and  a  foal  of  an  ass,  so  as  to  be  able  to  fide  into  the  city. 
The  village  is  located  on  a  ridge,  which  is  united  with  two 
others.  On  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Mount  of  Olives  there  is 
a  road ;  and  as  I  was  walking  along,  I  thought  of  Him  who  so 
long  ago  came  to  this  very  mountain  side  and  went  into  the 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


city.  Passing  by  the  Russian  church,  we  have  a  good  view  of 
the  Holy  City.  From  this  place  the  Lord  looked  down  upon 
Jerusalem,  and  wept  as  He  saw  it.  The  people  were  rejoicing 
and  singing  hosannahs,  hut  He  knew  that  only  a  few  days 
hence,  they  would  change  them  into  “crucify  him,”  “crucify 
him  !  ’  ’  Such  is  the  world  !  Pity  him  who  must  depend  on  the 
whims  and  caprices  of  men !  Among  them  a  popular  hero  to¬ 
day,  tomorrow  an  outcast  and  a  fool !  Best  to  confide  in  a 
friend,  who  is  the  same  all  the  time  and  constantly  faithful. 
Now  we  go  down  the  western  slope  of  the  ridge  to  the  Stephen 
gate,  enter  it  and  follow  via  Dolorosa ;  turning  to  the  right  I 
came  to  the  Damascus  gate  and  to  the  colony. 

September  22  we  went  to  see  the  Haran  esh-Sherif,  the 
temple  Place  or  the  Mount  Moriah.  Into  this  sacred  enclosure 
■  no  Christian  can  go  without  proper  escort.  At  the  American 
i  Consulate  I  met  my  dragoman  and  some  other  men  and  women 
i  and  among  them  a  missionary  from  Haifa.  The  rest  of  them 
were  also  missionaries.  Along  with  us  came  the  cavass  of  the 
American  Consul  and  a  policeman  together  with  my  dragoman. 
With  this  escort  we  went  through  the  city  and  came  into  the 
temple  area  on  the  west  side.  To  be  sure  we  felt  a  little 
peculiar  in  entering  on  such  historic  ground.  During  the 
time  of  Solomon  this  mountain  was  about  900  feet  long  and  600 
feet  wide.  There  are  several  buildings  within  this  enclosure, 
but  the  most  important  of  them  is,  no  doubt,  Kubbet  es  Sakhra 
or  the  Cliff-dome.  There  is  no  reason  to  call  it  the  Mosque  of 
Omar.  This  mosque  is  located  a  little  to  the  southwest  on  a 
terrace,  which  is  almost  square ;  and  at  the  north  and  west 
sides  of  the  terrace  there  are  buildings  with  cupolas.  Here  is 
the  mosque,  one  of  the  most  renowned  in  the  world.  The  main 
entrance  is  on  the  south  side,  but  we  entered  the  one  on  the 
east  side.  Of  course  we  must  put  on  sandals  before  we  went 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


in.  There  is  no  need  of  saying  that  this  is  a  most  beautiful 
building,  and  most  excellently  decorated  inside.  Here  you  will 
find  the  choicest  marble  and  the  best  mosaic  on  the  walls  and 
in  the  roof.  In  the  middle  of  the  floor  is  the  stone  that  served 
as  foundation  for  the  altar  in  the  Solomonic  temple.  The  stone 
is  about  51  feet  long  and  39  feet  wide.  This  stone  is  not  men¬ 
tioned  in  the  Bible.  In  the  legends  of  Jews  and  Mohammedans 
it  plays  an  important  role.  Here  Abraham  sacrificed  his  son 
Isaac,  so  the  Jews  say  (Gen.  22:  1-19),  and  this  is  the  stone 
that  Jacob  anointed.  (Gen.  28:  18.)  The  Mohammedans  tell 
us  that  it  rests  on  nothing.  It  covers  the  opening  of  the  well 
of  the  souls,  and  in  this  well  the  departed  gather  twice  a  week 
for  prayer.  When  Mohammed  went  to  heaven  on  his  flying 
steed  Burak,  the  stone  wished  to  follow  him,  but  Gabriel  kept  it 
back  and  you  can  see  the  mark  of  the  angel’s  hand  in  the  stone. 
Above  the  stone  rises  the  beautiful  cupola  and  around  the  stone 
is  a  kind  of  palisade.  No  “heathen”  can  touch  it,  but  while 
our  guide  was  busy  showing  the  rest  of  the  members  around  in 
the  mosque,  I  transgressed  this  rule.  Below  the  stone  is  a 
room,  hewn  out  of  the  rock.  We  went  down,  of  course.  Here 
is  a  little  chapel  and  I  could  barely  stand  straight  in  this  little 
room.  On  the  floor  is  a  marble  plate.  When  you  walk  on  it, 
it  sounds  as  if  you  would  hit  an  empty  barrel.  Below  this  is 
the  “well  of  the  souls.”  No  one  can  remove  this  marble  plate. 
In  the  middle  of  the  roof  there  is  a  hole  and  it  is  likely  that 
this  served  as  a  draining  pipe  for  the  blood  from  the  animals 
that  were  sacrificed  here.  Here  in  this  chapel,  call  it  grotto, 
if  you  so  desire,  is  shown  the  places  where  Abraham,  Solomon, 
Eliah,  and  Jesus  have  offered  prayer.  In  the  mosque,  on  the 
north  side  of  the  above  mentioned  palisade  is  a  stone,  which 
our  guide  was  very  anxious  that  I  should  see.  Mohammed 
had  put  in  19  nails  in  this  piece  of  stone.  During  a  certain 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


period  of  time  a  nail  falls  away,  and  when  all  have  gone,  then 
time  is  no  more.  Satan  succeeded  in  picking  away  all  the  nails 
with  the  exception  of  three,  hut  then  Gabriel  came  as  a  helper 
and  brought  them  back.  Our  Mohammedan  guide  sat  down 
by  this  piece  of  stone  and  asked  that  we  touch  it  and  in  this 
way  we  would  make  sure  of  our  salvation.  Of  course  he  would 
allow  us  to  do  that,  if  we  gave  him  bakschish.  A  certain  lady 
in  our  company  then  said,  “My  case  is  clear  already.”  The 
rest  of  us  could  give  the  same  testimony.  The  Mohammedans 
are  very  clever  in  securing  bakschisch  from  the  pilgrims.  Now 
a  few  more  words  about  this  wonderful  stone.  There  is  no 
doubt  but  that  this  stone  served  as  a  foundation  under  the  altar 
for  the  burnt  offering  in  the  Solomonic  and  ITerodian  temples. 
The  sizes  corresponds  with  the  data  given  in  Mischna. 

Now  we  must  look  at  the  mosque.  Around  the  cupola 
within  is  a  long  inscription  in  Arabic,  which  is  directed  against 
the  Christian  doctrine  of  trinity.  Here  it  is,  “God  has  no  one 
by  His  side,  Mohammed  is  His  messenger.  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Son  of  Mary,  is  God’s  messenger.  Believe  in  God  and  His 
Messenger,  but  do  not  say  that  there  are  three  Gods.  Be  it  far 
from  Him  that  He  should  have  a  Son.  Praised  be  God,  who 
adopts  no  one  as  His  Son,  and  who  can  not  have  any  partakers 
in  His  kingdom,  or  no  one  by  His  side,  in  an  humble,  created 
■■  being.” 

The  question  is,  when  was  this  building  erected?  Some 
think  that  this  structure  is  the  one  that  Julian  built  here.  The 
style  is  not  Mohammedan  but  Christian.  Others,  again,  think 
that  this  edifice  was  put  up  after  the  reign  of  Diocletian.  As 
we  know  he  abdicated  in  305,  consequently  before  the  time  of 
Justinian  (527-566),  it  is  likely  that  this  building  is  from  the 
fourth  century.  The  crusaders  changed  the  building  to  a 
Christian  church,  and  Christian  services  were  celebrated  here 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


for  88  years  (1099-1187).  At  that  time  it  was  called  the  Lord’s 
house  (Templum  Domini). 

Surely  this  is  a  very  interesting  place.  What  wonderful 
historic  events  have  not  taken  place  here !  Here  was  the  old 
temple  place  and  here  was  the  Solomonic  temple,  which  was 
destroyed  in  588  B.  C.  Here  Zerubbabel’s  temple  was  erected 
and  the  prophet  spoke  of  this  temple,  when  he  said,  “And  the 
glory  of  this  latter  house  shall  he  greater  than  that  of  the 
former,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  and  in  this  place  will  I  give 
peace,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts”  (Hag.  2:9).  We  may  say,  that 
the  Herodian  temple  was  a  development  of  Zerubbabel’s  sanctu¬ 
ary  and  in  the  Herodian  temple  the  great  Teacher  went  about 
preaching,  and  hence  its  greatness.  Furthermore,  one  of  the 
disciples  of  Christ  said  to  Him,  as  he  admired  the  wonderful 
structure,  “Master,  see  what  manner  of  stones  and  what  build¬ 
ings  are  here !” 

The  temple  area  was  almost  a  square.  Solomon’s  Portico 
ran  along  the  east  side  of  the  open  space,  and  the  Herodian  on 
the  south  side.  The  pillars  along  the  sides  were  of  Corinthian 
marble  with  a  roof  over  them.  In  this  Portico  the  Lord  went 
about  teaching  on  various  occasions,  and  while  doing  so,  the 
Jews  attacked  him.  (Jno.  10:  32-39.)  When  Peter  and  John 
went  up  to  the  temple  at  the  ninth  hour  to  pray,  they  found  a 
man,  who  had  been  lame  from  his  mother’s  womb.  This  man 
was  placed  at  the  gate  of  the  temple  called  “Beautiful”  to  ask 
alms  of  them  that  entered  into  the  temple.  (Acts  3:  2.)  The 
Apostles  healed  this  man  to  the  great  dismay  of  the  chief 
Priests  and  Pharisees.  Into  the  Solomonic  Porch  the  people, 
witnessing  the  miracle,  ran  together  greatly  wondering,  and 
then  Peter  made  a  speech  to  them.  (Acts  3 :  11-26.  The  gate 
which  was  located  opposite  the  eastern  part  of  the  temple 
proper  was  called  Shushan.  The  pinnacle  of  the  temple  at  the 


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southeast  corner  was  326  feet  above  the  bottom  of  the  Cedron 
valley.  On  this  pinnacle  of  the  temple  the  tempter  brought 
the  Lord  and  said  to  Him,  “If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  cast  thy¬ 
self  down ;  for  it  is  written :  He  shall  give  his  angels  charge 
concerning  thee :  and  in  their  hands  they  shall  bear  thee  up, 
lest  at  any  time  thou  dash  thy  foot  against  a  stone.”  (Matth. 
4:  5-6.)  The  gate  on  the  south  side  was  called  Huldah.  The 
western  part  of  this  Porch  of  Herod  was  united  to  the  Sion  with 
a  bridge.  This  Porch  was  a  refuge  for  literary  men  in  the  Jew¬ 
ish  world.  Christ  used  to  come  hither  to  teach,  and  here  lively 
discussions  arose  between  Him  and  the  Pharisees.  The  western 
Porch,  running  along  the  Tyropoean  valley,  had  three  gates, 
Shalleketh,  Parbar,  and  the  north  and  south  Asuppim.  The 
gate  on  the  north  side  was  called  Tedi.  The  open  space  be¬ 
tween  these  Porches  was  called  the  Court  of  the  Gentiles.  Into 
this  Court  the  Jews  brought  animals  for  sacrifices  and  in  this 
place  the  money  exchangers  were  carrying  on  their  business. 
Those,  who  wished  to  pay  the  tribute  to  the  temple,  could  here 
exchange  their  money.  The  Lord  went  into  this  place  and 
found  those  that  sold  oxen,  sheep,  and  doves,  and  the  changers 
of  money  sitting  there.  And  when  He  had  made  a  scourge  of 
small  cords,  he  drove  them  all  out  of  the  temple,  together  with 
the  sheep  and  the  oxen;  and  poured  out  the  changers  money, 
and  overthrew  the  tables;  and  said  unto  them  that  sold  doves, 
“take  these  things  hence;  make  not  my  father’s  house  a  house 
of  merchandise.”  The  Saviour  went  in  to  clean  His  temple 
twice  during  His  ministry,  once  at  the  beginning,  and  once  at 
the  end. 

When  we  thing  of  the  present-day  church  kitchens  and  how 
the  house  of  the  Lord  is  changed  into  a  house  of  merchandise 
so  as  to  secure  money  to  carry  on  the  church  work,  there  can¬ 
not  be  any  question  as  to  what  He  would  do,  if  He  would  come 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


bodily  into  our  churches  and  see  the  lively  business  they  are 
carrying  on.  The  present  time  has  proved  to  be  very  ingenious 
as  to  the  methods  in  bringing  in  money  for  the  church  of  Christ. 
All  these  methods  that  a  worldly  and  negligent  church  are 
making  use  of  is  deplorable,  and  the  greatest  institution  in  the 
world  ought  not  to  seek  subsistence  in  such  a  way.  We  shall 
not  endeavor  to  enumerate  all  these  methods,  made  use  of  in 
many  churches  at  the  present  day,  but  suffice  it  to  say,  that  if 
the  church  be  the  greatest  institution  in  the  world,  it  is  worth 
while  to  sacrifice  for  it  directly  without  any  dubious  methods. 
If  we  can  not  give  more  than  five  cents  to  the  church  of  God, 
we  ought  to  give  it  in  such  a  way  as  not  call  down  the  wrath 
of  God  upon  us.  Many  of  the  present-day  methods  are  un¬ 
worthy  of  the  church  of  Christ  and  ought  to  be  discontinued. 
These  thoughts  came  to  my  mind  as  I  was  wandering  around 
here  on  the  temple  place  or  the  Court  of  the  Gentiles. 

The  temple  proper  was  located  in  the  northwestern  part 
of  the  Court  of  the  Gentiles.  It  was  eight  feet  higher  than 
this  and  was  630  feet  long  and  300  feet  wide.  The  Jews  called 
this  rectangular  place  Chel.  Around  this  there  was  a  palisade 
four  and  a  half  feet  high  and  on  this  they  have  written  in 
several  languages  warnings  to  the  Gentiles  not  to  go  further. 
In  case  they  did  so,  capital  punishment  followed.  A  part  of 
this  wall  or  palisade  was  discovered  by  the  Frenchman,  Cler¬ 
mont  Ganneau  in  1871.  At  the  east  end  of  this  Chel  was  the 
Court  of  the  Women.  This  was  three  feet  higher  than  the  sur¬ 
roundings.  This  Court  had  the  form  of  a  square  with  a  gate 
on  each  side.  The  one  on  the  east  side  was,  no  doubt,  the  Beau¬ 
tiful  gate.  The  gate  to  the  west,  leading  into  the  Court  of 
Israel,  was  called  Nicanor.  The  women  were  not  permitted  to 
go  beyond  this  gate.  In  each  corner  of  this  Court  was  a  room, 
open  overhead,  and  the  one  on  the  south  east  corner  was  used 


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for  the  ceremonies  of  the  Nazarite  vow.  Here  Paul  was  taken 
captive  by  the  Jews  (Acts  21:  26).  Around  the  walls  thirteen 
treasure  chests  were  placed,  where  the  women  could  place  their 
gifts  to  the  temple.  Hence  they  called  this  part  of  the  temple 
“ Treasury”.  (Mark  12:  41-52;  John  8:  20.)  From  the  Tower 
of  Antonia  there  was  a  subterranean  passage  to  this  Court  of 
the  Women  and  the  opening  was  by  the  Beautiful  gate. 
Through  this  passage  the  soldiers  came  to  rescue  Paul  from  the 
Jewish  mob.  (Acts  21:  31-32.)  Christ  used  to  go  into  this 
Court  and  teach  (John  8:  20),  and  here  He  beheld  how  the 
people  cast  money  into  the  Treasury.  (Mark  12:  41).  Plere  He 
noticed  how  the  poor  widow  gave  her  mite  and  declared  that 
this  poor  widow  had  cast  in  more  than  all  the  others.  She 
gave  only  one-fourth  of  a  cent,  but  she  gave  so  that  she  felt  it 
and  therefore  she  gave  so  much.  The  Lord  looks  upon  the 
heart. 

The  Court  of  the  Israelites  was  ten  feet  higher  than  the 
Court  of  the  Women.  Within  this,  and  three  feet  higher,  lay 
the  Court  of  the  Priests,  Into  this  Court  the  men  could  not  go, 
but  they  were  permitted  to  witness  the  sacrifices  over  a  pali¬ 
sade  or  fence,  which  was  erected  around  this  part  of  the  temple. 
Within  this  Court  was  the  altar  for  the  burnt  offerings.  This 
was  fifteen  feet  high  and  its  upper  part  a  square  thirty-six  feet 
on  every  side.  Then  we  come  to  the  real  temple,  sixty  feet 
long  and  thirty  feet  wide.  Within  this  were  the  altar  of  in¬ 
cense,  the  candlestick,  where  seven  lamps  were  burning,  and  a 
table  on  which  twelve  loaves  of  bread  were  kept.  In  this  room 
Zacharias  received  the  promise  of  the  birth  of  a  son,  John  the 
Baptist  (Luke  1).  The  Holy  of  Holies  was  a  cube,  whose  sides 
were  thirty  feet.  This  was  separated  from  the  Holy  place  by 
a  veil  eight  inches  thick.  The  Roman  conqueror,  Pompey, 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


entered  this  place  and  thought  he  would  find  a  treasure  or  some 
object  of  worship,  but  found  nothing  therein. 

Let  us  now  go  to  the  southern  part  of  the  temple  area. 
There  you  find  the  mosque  El-Aksa.  This  is  very  beautiful  and 
was  originally  erected  during  the  time  of  Justinian  for  a 
church.  It  was  called  the  Church  of  Mary  and  when  the 
Mohammedans  captured  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  it  was  rebuilt 
into  a  mosque  by  the  Caliph  Abd  el-Melech  (688-692).  We 
went  into  the  mosque,  and  looked  around.  In  the  mosque,  to 
the  left,  stand  two  pillars.  The  Mohammedans  declare  that 
those  who  cannot  go  between  these  pillars,  have  no  prospect  of 
entering  heaven.  Quite  near  this  mosque  there  is  an  entrance 
into  the  so-called  Solomonic  Stables.  Here  is  a  gate  which  has 
been  identified  with  the  Huldah-gate.  This  is  now  closed  up, 
but  it  can  been  seen  distinctly.  Without  doubt  our  Saviour 
passed  through  this  gate  many  times.  Having  looked  carefully 
at  the  gate,  we  passed  on  and  saw  the  subterranean  vaults  or 
arches,  which,  by  the  way,  may  have  been  ‘ ‘substructures  to  the 
Herodian  temple.”  The  further  north  you  go,  the  shorter  the 
pillars  become.  We  saw  holes  in  the  pillars  and  my  dragoman 
told  me  that  the  horses  of  Solomon  were  tied  to  these  pillars. 
The  Jew  who  was  with  us,  insisted  that  the  sacrificial  animals 
were  tied  up  here.  Who  was  right?  I  cannot  tell. 

Having  come  up  from  these  subterranean  vaults,  we  walked 
along  the  eastern  wall.  At  a  certain  place  there  is  a  staircase, 
where  you  can  come  upon  the  wall.  I  walked  up  the  stair  and 
stood  a  while  on  the  wall ;  and  a  most  excellent  view  presented 
itself  before  me  down  in  the  valley  of  Jehosaphat,  and  over 
the  western  slope  of  the  Mount  of  Olives.  We  continued  along 
the  eastern  wall  until  we  came  to  the  Golden-gate.  The  outside 
of  this  gate,  facing  the  Mount  of  Olives,  shows  that  this  was 
a  double  gate.  Now  it  is  closed  up  and  well  guarded.  How 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


wonderful !  This  gate  looks  pretty  much  like  a  tower  and  on 
the  inside  it  is  rather  magnificent.  Staircases  led  down  to  the 
gate  and  the  vault  looked  like  a  cellar.  About  fifty  steps  to 
the  north  of  the  gate  is  a  little  mosque  called  the  Throne  of 
Solomon.  The  legend  says  that  King  Solomon  died  here. 

From  here  we  walk  towards  the  west  and  find  in  the  north¬ 
western  part  of  the  Haram  esh-Sherif  barracks  for  Turkish 
soldiers.  In  the  castle  near  by  is  the  palace  of  the  Turkish 
Pascha.  Here  was  the  ancient  Antonia.  There  was  a  time, 
not  so  very  far  distant,  when  none  other  than  Mohammedans 
could  enter  this  sacred  Enclosure.  Any  one  else  entering  within 
this  must  then  forfeit  his  life.  Now,  we  could  walk  about 
where  we  pleased.  Our  policeman  and  cavass  were  walking 
about  at  a  distance,  keeping  their  eyes  on  us  that  no  one  should 
do  us  any  harm.  We  met  no  one  who  was  inclined  to  harm  us, 
and  we  could  walk  along  and  meditate  in  peace.  The  condi¬ 
tion  in  the  time  of  Paul  was  quite  different.  Here  on  the 
temple  area  there  arose  a  fearful  tumult,  because  the  Jews 
believed  that  Paul  had  taken  with  him  into  the  temple  the  man 
from  Ephesus,  Trophimus.  (Acts  21;  28-37.)  If  the  Roman 
soldiers  had  not  come  to  his  assistance,  he  would  have  been 
torn  in  pieces  by  the  angry  mob.  He  was  taken  by  the  Roman 
soldiers,  tied  with  two  chains  and  the  chief  captain  demanded 
who  he  was  and  what  he  had  done.  Paul  was  now  permitted 
to  deliver  a  speech  to  the  multitude,  and  he  spoke  in  the 
Hebrew  language.  (Acts  22.)  From  the  temple  area  a  stair 
extended  to  the  fort  Antonia  and  upon  this  stair  Paul  was 
standing  as  he  spoke  to  them.  He  finished  his  speech  by  de¬ 
claring  that  God  had  sent  him  to  the  Gentiles.  Then  they  lifted 
up  their  voices  and  said,  “Away  with  such  a  fellow  from  the 
earth,  for  it  is  not  fit  that  he  should  live.”  (Acts  22:  21-22.) 
What  a  boundless  bitterness !  They  knew  nothing  of  the  doc- 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


trine  of  love  and  tolerance,  and  yet  they  called  themselves  the 
sons  of  the  chosen  race. 

Having  looked  over  the  Haram  esh-Sherif  very  carefully, 
we  went  out  west  from  the  Cliff  Dome  and  came  through 
the  gate  into  the  Tyropoean  valley,  on  the  west  side 
of  the  old  temple  wall.  Here  is  the  wailing  place  of  the  Jews. 
This  is  located  a  little  to  the  southwest  from  the  mosque.  To 
this  wailing  place  the  Jews  come  from  all  the  parts  of  the 
world  to  pray  and  weep.  Here  in  the  valley  we  found  one  of 
the  dirtiest  places  in  Jerusalem.  Here  are  Mohammedans 
from  north  Africa,  who  are  known  by. their  fanaticism.  Here 
we  find  an  old  stone  wall,  dating  from  the  time  of  Herod,  but 
the  lower  part  of  this  is,  no  doubt,  from  the  time  of  Solomon. 
On  some  of  the  stones  we  find  inscriptions  in  Hebrew. 

Every  Friday  the  Jews  come  to  this  wailing  place  to  lament 
the  condition  of  their  city  and  people  and  pray  for  the  advent 
of  their  Messiah.  It  was  Wednesday  when  I  was  there  and 
there  stood  a  number  of  young  and  old  Jews  with  their  Hebrew 
bibles  in  their  hands.  Some  read  aloud  and  others  in  a  low 
tone.  Some  seemed  to  be  earnest  in  their  religious  exercises ; 
others  were  there  for  fun,  as  it  seemed  to  me.  As  we  came  to 
the  place,  we  feared  that  we  might  disturb  them,  but  there  was 
no  danger  about  that.  They  seemed  to  be  very  anxious  that  we 
should  come  as  near  to  them  as  possible.  There  was  a  murmur 
and  noise,  mumbling  and  lamenting;  and  who  dare  say,  that 
some  of  them  do  not  mean  anything  by  these  exercises?  I  paid 
attention  to  a  young  man  who  was  reading  very  faithfully  in 
the  Bible  and  as  he  did  so,  looked  occasionally  towards  us,  as 
though  he  wished  to  say,  “Don’t  you  think  that  we  are  pious 
fellows?  Can  it  be  that  God  will  not  listen  to  our  prayers?” 
It  was  rather  painful  to  stand  there  and  look  at  those  poor 
people.  While  I  was  standing  there,  these  words  came  to  me, 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


“He  came  unto  His  own  and  His  own  received  Him  not.”  (John 
1 :  11.)  I  also  thought  of  the  words  of  Paul  to  his  people,  when 
he  was  in  the  imperial  prison  at  Rome,  “For  the  heart  of  this 
people  is  waxed  gross,  and  their  ears  are  dull  of  hearing,  and 
their  eyes  have  been  closed ;  lest  they  should  see  with  their 
eyes,  and  hear  with  their  ears,  and  understand  with  their  heart, 
and  should  be  converted  and  I  should  heal  them.”  (Acts  28: 
27.)  Here  we  find  a  public  demonstration  of  what  it  means 
to  harden  the  heart  against  the  grace  of  God.  “For  unto 
everyone  that  hath  shall  be  given,  and  he  shall  have  abund¬ 
ance  :  but  from  him  that  hath  not  shall  be  taken  away  that 
which  he  hath.”  (Matth.  25  :  29.)  This  is  a  law  in  the  kingdom 
of  nature.  He  who  does  not  use  properly  the  gifts  bestowed 
upon  him,  shall  lose  them. 

A  little  to  the  south  of  the  Wailing  Place  of  the  Jews  they 
have  discovered  the  gate  of  the  old  Prophet.  This  gate  is  also 
called  the  Barclays  gate,  because  he  discovered  it.  The  arch 
of  the  gate  is  located  deep  down  under  the  ground.  This  is  the 
old  gate  that  led  to  Mount  Zion  from  the  Hill  of  Moriah.  The 
discovery  of  this  gate  has  helped  materially  to  determine  the 
bounderies  of  the  temple  area.  A  little  to  the  north  of  the 
above  named  arch  is  the  Robinson  arch,  This  indicates  where 
the  old  bridge  passed  over  the  Tyropoean  valley.  Now,  having 
seen  all  this  in  the  forenoon  we  went  to  the  American  Consulate 
and  our  little  band  was  dispersed  never  to  meet  again  in  the 
land  of  the  living. 

Perhaps  we  might  relate  a  few  things  regarding  the  ap¬ 
pearance  of  the  city  of  Jerusalem  as  we  found  it  inside  of  the 
walls.  The  city  is  divided  into  four  parts  or  quarters.  In  the 
southwestern  quarter  we  find  the  Armenians,  in  the  northwest¬ 
ern  the  Latins  and  the  Greeks,  in  the  northeastern  the  Moham¬ 
medans,  and  in  the  southeastern  the  Jews.  A  number  of  Jews 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


are  living  in  the  New  Town,  to  the  northwest  of  the  Jaffa  gate. 
The  streets  are  narrow,  dark  and  dirty.  They  are  dark,  be¬ 
cause  of  the  many  vaults  that  are  built  over  them,  and  dirty, 
because  there  are  no  other  beings  to  keep  them  clean  than  the 
dogs.  These  are  found  on  the  streets  all  over  in  some  hollow 
or  corner.  They  do  not  care  how  the  people  in  the  city  pass 
over  them.  In  the  day  time  they  are  asleep.  But  wait  till  the 
night  comes.  Then  you  will  hear  an  endless  howling  here  and 
there,  as  they  hunt  for  their  food  and  fight  each  other  when 
they  happen  to  find  some.  Here  we  are  reminded  of  the  words 
of  the  Psalmist,  “And  at  evening  let  them  (the  heathens)  re¬ 
turn;  and  let  them  make  a  noise  like  a  dog,  and  go  round  about 
the  city.  Let  them  wander  up  and  down  for  meat  and  grudge, 
if  they  be  not  satisfied.”  (Ps.  59:  14-15.)  But  no  one  is  per¬ 
mitted  to  touch  them.  When  the  American  colony  was  estab¬ 
lished  in  Jerusalem,  they  saw  dogs  jump  around  on  three  legs; 
the  fourth  was  broken  off.  But  they  were  not  permitted  to  kill 
the  poor  animals  without  special  permission  of  the  city  officials. 

The  houses  are  quite  low  and  uninviting.  Along  the 
streets  the  merchants  have  their  goods  for  sale  and  you  find  it 
difficult  to  move.  The  food  stuff,  scattered  on  the  sidewalks, 
looks  anything  but  appetizing,  but  you  must  remember  that 
you  are  in  the  Orient.  The  tailors  sit  along  the  streets  sewing. 
Where  there  are  no  stores  the  streets  look  like  a  labyrinth  be¬ 
tween  rows  of  houses.  Only  from  the  housetops  you  get  an 
idea  what  the  city  looks  like.  There  are  no  parks  in  the  city 
of  Jerusalem.  Inside  the  walls  of  the  city  you  will  hardly  get 
any  fresh  air,  and  there  is  a  constant  stench.  The  people  bear 
the  stamp  of  poverty  and  distress. 

But  Jerusalem  is  a  city  of  memories.  Hither  thousands  of 
pilgrims  come  annually,  and  many  have  come  to  live  and  die 
here,  in  order  that  they  might  be  buried  in  the  sacred  soil.  Not 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


only  Jews,  but  people  of  other  religions  have  come  hither  to  see 
the  fulfillment  of  the  promises  of  God.  The  Holy  City  has  a 
number  of  churches  and  institutions  of  mercy.  Within  the 
walls,  and  in  the  New  City,  there  are  many  churches  and  hos¬ 
pitals,  and  there  is  no  city  in  the  world  with  the  same  number 
of  citizens  that  can  show  forth  such  a  percent  of  churches  and 
hospitals  as  Jerusalem.  The  hospital  work  is  carried  on  very 
successfully  and  many  sufferers  find  a  safe  refuge  with  proper 
care  within  their  walls.  What  a  difference  between  the  Chris¬ 
tian  and  the  Mohammedan  world  in  this  respect !  The  Chris¬ 
tian  physicians  are  doing  a  splendid  work  among  the  poor  and 
sick  in  Jerusalem.  It  is  a  work  that  speaks  to  the  heart  of  the 
heathens. 

In  the  afternoon  we  prepared  our  journey  to  Samaria  and 
Galilee.  I  bought  some  medicine  and  colored  spectacles,  be¬ 
cause  the  sunshine  in  Syria  is  very  bright  and  it  pained  my 
eyes.  With  these  preparations  I  was  ready  for  the  excursion 
northward. 


|  287  ] 


Chapter  XIV 

JOURNEYS  IN  SAMARIA 


I  HAD  seen  a  part  of  Northern  Palestine,  and  what  I  had  seen 
was  enough  to  take  me  there  again.  Perhaps  it  is  proper 
to  mention  how  such  excursions  are  made.  According  to  my 
contract  with  Mr.  Aboosh  I  was  to  have  three  horses,  one  for 
my  dragoman,  one  for  my  boy,  who  brought  the  baggage,  and 
one  for  myself.  My  dragoman  had  given  me  a  hint  that  I 
ought  to  leave  my  watch  at  the  colony,  because  the  Beduins 
might  find  occasion  to  attack  us,  if  they  saw  me  carry  a  watch. 
But  I  did  not  feel  like  leaving  my  time  keeper  at  my  temporary 
home,  so  I  took  it  along.  He  told  me  furthermore  to  take  as 
little  money  with  me  as  possible  and  to  put  it  in  small  change, 
so  that  I  might  give  bakschisch.  According  to  the  contract  he 
was  to  see  to  that,  and  I  let  him  do  so,  except  in  certain  cases, 
when  I  gave  bakschisch  myself. 

September  22,  at  2  o’clock  P.  M.  we  were  ready  for  the 
journey.  My  dragoman,  who  had  contracted  for  three  horses, 
could  not  get  them  in  time,  and  asked  me  to  ride  in  a  hack  to 
Shechem,  where  he  would  meet  French  Pilgrims,  and  then  we 
would  get  their  horses.  To  this  I  consented,  but  with  the  un¬ 
derstanding  that  I  would  have  a  chance  to  see  all  the  historic 
places  along  the  road.  There  was  some  delay,  before  our 
coachman  arrived  with  the  carriage.  He  came  at  last  and  the 
owner  of  the  vehicle  was  with  him.  In  the  carriage  sat  then  a 
pastor,  W.  R.  Miller,  from  Chicago,  Ill.  While  we  were  wait¬ 
ing  for  the  dragoman,  I  told  the  owner  of  the  team,  that  this 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


would  be  a  most  pleasant  trip  for  me,  as  I  was  to  pass  through 
a  country  with  so  many  historical  memories.  Then  the  Arab 
retorted,  “This  carriage  does  not  stop  before  it  makes  Shechem. 
It  goes  right  through.”  At  last  Mr.  Aboosh  came  and  then  the 
Arab  said  that  he  did  not  wish  to  have  so  many  in  the  carriage, 
and  besides  the  carriage  must  not  stop  on  the  road  to  Shechem. 
Mr.  Aboosh  answered  that  he  had  paid  for  the  team  for  this 
trip,  that  he  considered  himself  to  have  the  right  to  go  slow  or 
fast  as  he  pleased,  and  that  he  could  take  one  or  more  persons 
in  the  carriage,  if  he  so  desired.  Then  the  Arab  became  very 
angry  and  the  fire  of  wrath  was  shining  out  of  his  eyes.  There 
was  a  hot  quarrel.  Rev.  Miller  and  I  sat  and  looked  at  them. 
Mr.  Aboosh  was  so  cool  that  I  became  surprised  at  him.  I  then 
found  out  that  this  was  not  the  first  time  he  had  had  to  do  with 
hot  tempered  Arabs.  He  sat  still  in  the  carriage,  although  the 
Arab  threatened  to  drive  him  and  us  out  of  the  same.  After  a 
while  he  cooled  off  and  we  went  on. 

We  passed  over  the  valley  of  Cedron,  which  is  located  a 
little  below  the  colony,  and  up  along  the  slope  of  Mount  Scopus, 
where  the  army  of  Titus  was  encamped.  From  this  place  you 
have  the  most  excellent  view  of  the  city  and  the  surroundings. 
Here  you  observe  better  than  anywhere  else,  that  the  location 
of  the  city  leans  a  little  towards  the  east.  To  the  north  we  see 
the  high  Nebi  Samwil,  or  Mizpa,  on  whose  pinnacle  a  mosque 
extends  its  minaret  heavenward,  and  toward  the  northeast  we 
observe  Biblical  places  all  over.  Leaving  Scopus,  we  have  to 
the  left  of  the  road  a  little  village  by  the  name  of  Schafat, 
which  is  located  about  two  miles  to  the  north  of  Jerusalem. 
We  are  now  within  the  territory  of  the  tribe  of  Dan.  Here  the 
Ark  of  the  Covenant  was  located  for  a  long  time.  During  the 
time  of  Samuel  it  was  brought  from  Beth-Shemesh  to  Kirjath 
Jearim,  which  is  located  to  the  west  of  Jerusalem.  (I  Sam.  7 : 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


1.)  From  this  place  the  Ark  was  brought  to  Jerusalem  by 
King  David.  During  the  time  of  Saul  the  Ark  of  the  Taber¬ 
nacle  were  for  some  reason  brought  to  Nob.  Here  lived  the 
priest  Ahimelech  (I  Sam.  21:  90),  and  here  the  shewbread  was 
to  be  found  (I  Sam.  21:  6)  ;  and  here  too  the  sword  of  Goliath 
was  kept.  The  priest  said  to  David,  “The  sword  of  Goliath, 
the  Philistine,  is  here,  whom  thou  slewest  in  the  valley  of 
Elah,  behold  it  is  here  wrapped  in  a  cloth  behind  the  ephod :  if 
thou  wilt  take  that,  take  it :  for  there  is  no  other  save  that  here. 
And  David  said,  There  is  non  like  that;  give  it  me.”  (I  Sam. 
21:  9).  Surely  we  may  say  the  same  of  the  two-edged  sword, 
the  word  of  the  living  God.  The  priest  delivered  to  David  the 
hallowed  bread  and  the  sword  of  Goliath.  The  king  found  out 
what  the  priest  Ahimelech  had  done,  because  the  Edomean 
Doeg,  the  chief  shepherd  of  Saul,  had  seen  it  and  had  brought 
this  information  to  Saul,  who  at  that  time  lived  at  Gibea,  a  lit¬ 
tle  to  the  southeast  from  here.  Saul,  killed  85  priests,  only 
one  escaping  with  his  life.  The  city  was  razed  to  the  ground, 
and  all  who  dwelt  therein  together  with  the  sheep,  oxen  and 
asses  were  killed.  This  was  a  cruel  deed. 

The  Ark  was  then  moved  to  Kirjath-Jearim  and  Nob  be¬ 
came  desolate  so  that  no  one  dwelt  there.  Its  priests  were  no 
more.  The  next  time  we  hear  of  Nob  is  in  connection  with  the 
warfare  of  Sennacherib  against  Judah.  The  prophet  Isaiah 
says  among  other  things  about  the  conquerer,  “As  yet  shall  he 
remain  at  Nob  that  day:  he  shall  shake  his  hand  against  the 
mount  of  the  daughter  of  Sion,  the  hill  of  Jerusalem.”  (Is.  10: 
32.)  From  the  words  of  Isaiah  we  draw  the  conclusion  that 
Nob  must  have  been  somewhere  between  Anathoth  and  Jerusa¬ 
lem.  The  last  time  Nob  is  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures  is  in 
Nehemiah  11 :32,  where  we  find  that  the  children  of  Israel  lived 
after  the  return  from  the  Babylonian  captivity  in  Anathoth, 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Nob,  and  Ananjah.  There  are  some  who  think  that  they  have 
found  Nob  in  the  present  El-Tsawyeh,  between  Anathoth  and 
Jerusalem,  but  this  village  is  located  in  a  valley,  and  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  Nob  was  seen  from  Jerusalem,  according 
to  the  words  of  the  prophet,  “He  shall  shake  his  hand  against 
the  daughter  of  Sion,  the  hill  of  Jerusalem.”  Jerusalem  can 
be  seen  from  Schafat.  When  we  came  opposite  it  on  the  road, 
we  left  the  carriage  and  walked  to  the  village.  There  are 
ruins  of  an  old  church  there,  but  we  know  nothing  of  its  his¬ 
tory.  Schafat  is  a  very  dirty  Arab  village  at  present.  We 
saw  some  women  weaving  in  the  village.  They  had  stretched 
their  yarn  along  the  streets,  and  at  the  ends  of  these  threads 
the  women  were  busy  plying  their  shuttles  in  the  hot  sun. 
They  asked  us  to  give  them  bakschisch,  of  course.  The  village 
is  very  small,  containing  only  about  100  inhabitants. 

From  here  we  walked  back  to  the  road,  continued  a  little 
to  the  north,  and  then  came  to  a  hill  around  which  there  were 
heaps  of  ruins.  This  height  is  located  to  the  east  of  the  road 
and  is  called  Tuleil  el-Ful.  According  to  some  geographers 
this  is  the  Gibea  in  Benjamin.  It  took  about  fifteen  minutes  to 
come  from  Nob  to  Gibea.  Gibea  signifies  ‘ ‘height”  or  “hill.” 
This  place  is  doubtless  the  Gibea  of  Saul.  The  first  time  we 
meet  with  this  city  is  under  very  sad  circumstances.  A  Levite 
took  unto  himself  a  concubine  out  of  Beth-Lehem  in  Judah. 
She  proved  to  be  unfaithful  to  him  and  returned  to  her  father. 
After  some  time  he  went  to  bring  her  back,  and  his  father-in- 
law  received  him  very  kindly.  On  the  fourth  day  they  re¬ 
turned  homeward  through  Jebus,  i.  e.  Jerusalem.  The  man 
did  not  wish  to  lodge  over  night  at  this  place,  although  it  was 
late  in  the  evening,  because  there  were  no  Israelites  there  at 
that  time.  For  this  reason  they  continued  to  Gibea.  Here  he 
met  with  a  wayfaring  man  from  the  mountains  of  Ephraim, 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


who  lived  as  a  stranger  in  this  place.  With  him  he  found 
lodgment  over  night.  When  they  had  eaten  supper,  there 
came  wicked  men  and  surrounded  the  city  with  the  same  pur¬ 
pose  as  the  men  of  Sodom  in  the  days  of  Lot.  At  last  he  sent 
his  concubine  out,  and  they  fared  so  badly  with  her  that  she 
was  found  dead  in  the  morning.  Having  arrived  home,  he  cut 
his  wife  in  twelve  pieces  and  sent  these  pieces  throughout  the 
land  of  Israel.  Then  the  whole  people  of  Israel  from  Dan  to 
Beer-Sheba  gathered  together  and  now  there  was  a  war  of 
extirpation  against  the  tribe  of  Benjamin.  The  city  was  burnt 
and  even  the  cattle  were  killed.  (Jud.  19-29.) 

But  the  city  was  rebuilt  and  the  first  king  in  Israel  dwelt 
there.  This  was  the  capitol  city  at  that  time.  Now,  is  this  the 
right  place?  How  can  we  be  certain  about  it?  The  name  ot 
Saul  has  not  been  connected  with  any  town  of  modern  Pales¬ 
tine,  but  we  find  it  in  the  time  of  Josephus.  He  describes  the 
march  of  Titus  from  Caesarea  to  Jerusalem  by  way  of  Samaria 
and  Gophna,  thence  a  day’s  march  to  a  valley  called  by  the 
Jews  the  “Valley  of  Thorns,”  near  a  certain  village  called 
Gabath  Saoule,  distant  from  Jerusalem  about  thirty  stadia,  i.  e. 
the  distance  from  Jerusalem  to  Tuleil  el-Ful.  The  agreement 
with  the  geography  is  complete  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  this 
is  the  place.  (Jos.  Wars  5:2:1.)  Yonder  is  a  tower  on  the  top. 
My  dragoman  went  with  me  to  the  height,  whence  we  have  a 
splendid  view  of  the  vicinity.  To  the  south  we  see  the  Holy 
City  and  Mount  Scopus  in  the  foreground.  From  this  place  it 
does  not  look  very  high.  To  the  southeast  is  Ananta  or  Ana- 
thoth,  a  priest  city  in  Benjamin,  about  three  miles  distant  on  a 
ridge.  There  was  the  home  of  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  the  son 
of  the  priest,  Hilkiah. 

A  little  further  to  the  north  of  Ananta  we  see  Geba,  also  a 
priest  city  in  the  tribe  of  Benjamin.  Here  Jonathan  carried 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


on  his  warlike  expedition  against  the  Philistines.  (I  Sam.  14 : 
6-15.)  The  present  name  of  Geba  is  Jeba. 

To  the  northeast  from  Gibeah  we  notice  the  old  city  Oph- 
rah.  The  town  is  located  about  five  miles  to  the  east  of  Bethel 
on  a  conical  hill.  This  place  is  mentioned  in  connection  with 
the  war  of  Sanl  against  the  Philistines.  (I  Sam.  13:  16-18.) 
Josephus  relates  that  Vespasian  during  his  expedition  captured 
Bethel  and  Ophrah.  (Jos.  Wars  4:  9:  19.)  When  Jesus  had 
resurrected  Lazarus  from  the  dead,  the  Jews  resolved  to  kill 
him.  Then  He  walked  no  more  openly  among  the  Jews;  but 
went  thence  unto  a  country  near  to  the  wilderness,  into  a  city 
called  Ephraim,  and  there  continued  with  His  disciples.  (John 
11 :  53-54).  This  is  no  doubt  the  same  Ophrah.  It  was  in  that 
section  of  the  country  that  the  Saviour  was  walking  about 
teaching  the  doctrine  of  His  kingdom.  A  little  to  the  south¬ 
east  from  Ophrah  we  see  Rimmon.  This  is  the  rock  Rimmon  to 
which  six  hundred  men  of  Benjamin  fled  after  the  massacre  of 
Gibeah.  (Jud.  20:  45-47.)  To  the  south  of  this  rock,  and  on 
more  level  ground,  is  Ai.  Even  this  place  we  could  see  very 
distinctly.  This  was  the  second  city  that  the  children  of  Israel 
captured  after  they  had  crossed  the  Jordan,  and  this  was  en¬ 
tirely  destroyed.  (Jos.  7  :  3-4 ;  8  :  1-29.)  From  this  place,  where 
we  are  now  standing,  we  can  see  Bethel  to  the  northeast.  Yon¬ 
der  to  the  north  we  see  a  number  of  Biblical  places  on  the  hills 
and  mountains.  As  for  my  part,  I  was  rather  surprised  at  the 
short  distances  between  the  various  places.  I  had  the  idea 
that  they  were  farther  apart.  The  hills  are  without  trees ;  but 
this  must  have  been  a  very  picturesque  part  of  the  country  in 
the  days  when  the  hills  were  covered  with  trees. 

Our  next  objective  is  Er-Ram,  the  old  Ramah,  which  is  lo¬ 
cated  on  a  height  a  little  distance  to  the  north  of  Gibeah,  and 
only  fifteen  minutes  walk  to  the  east  of  the  main  road.  At 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


three  o’clock  we  are  opposite  Ramah.  This  time  I  did  not  go 
up  to  the  village  on  the  hill.  Another  time  I  had  a  chance  to 
see  the  place  at  a  nearer  range.  On  the  west  side  of  the  road  is 
Chan  el-Charaib,  a  kind  of  an  inn.  A  little  further  north  is  a 
high  hill.  Mr.  Aboosh  told  me  that  this  is  the  place  where 
Deborah  was  judging  Israel  during  the  time  of  the  Judges. 
We  know  from  the  Scriptures  that  she  dwelt  under  the  palm 
tree  between  Ramah  and  Bethel  in  mount  Ephraim,  and  the 
children  of  Israel  came  up  to  her  for  judgment.  (Jud.  4:  5). 
Perhaps  she  sat  on  that  hill  in  the  olden  times  and  established 
peace  among  the  children  of  the  chosen  race.  It  depends 
upon  which  Ramah  is  the  correct  one. 

In  a  little  while  we  come  to  a  small  village  called  Khirbet 
el-Atara.  There  are  two  ponds  and  tombs  in  this  vicinity. 
Here  was  the  old  Ataroth-Addar.  (Jos.  16:  5).  Here  was  the 
boundary  line  between  Ephraim  and  Benjamin.  From  this 
place  we  push  on  to  Ram-Allah,  the  goal  for  the  day.  We  saw 
the  village  on  the  hill  to  the  northwest,  but  followed  the  road  to 
El-Bireh.  Here  is  a  poor  district,  but  plenty  of  water.  Here 
was  the  old  Beeroth,  which  has  the  same  meaning,  “  cistern.  ” 
This  was  located  in  Benjamin.  (Jos.  9:  17.)  This  city  was  one 
of  the  four  which  deceived  Joshua  and  with  which  he  con¬ 
cluded  peace.  The  murderers  of  Ishboseth  lived  in  this  town. 
(II  Sam.  4:2).  There  are  piles  of  ruins  here.  Some  of  them 
date  from  the  time  of  the  crusaders.  Tradition  holds  that  this 
is  the  place  where  Joseph  and  Mary  discovered  the  absence  of 
their  child,  Jesus.  We  are  now  about  ten  miles  from  Jeru¬ 
salem. 

When  we  came  to  the  village  El-Bireh  we  put  the  horses 
in  the  barn ;  and  walking  about  two  miles  to  the  northeast  from 
here,  we  came  to  Betin,  the  old  Bethel.  The  road  was  very 
stony,  and  it  was  quite  hard  to  get  through,  but  at  five  o’clock 

[  294] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


we  were  there.  Here  is  Bethel,  a  very  poor  Arab  village  of 
about  fifty  inhabitants.  The  houses  are  miserable  and  dingy 
looking.  Having  rested  for  some  time  and  taken  some 
photographs,  we  returned  to  El-Bireh. 

Bethel  is  an  old  place.  Its  early  name  was  Lus,  and  is 
spoken  of  in  the  time  of  Abraham.  When  he  came  from 
Mesopotamia,  he  went  forth  into  the  land  of  Canaan  to 
Shechem,  and  “removed  from  thence  unto  a  mountain  on  the 
east  of  Bethel,  and  pitched  his  tent,  having  Bethel  on  the  west 
and  Hai  on  the  east:  and  there  he  builded  an  altar  unto  the 
Lord,  and  called  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord.”  (Gen.  12:  8.) 
Here  the  strife  arose  between  the  two  men,  Abraham  and  Lot. 
Here  in  Bethel  the  wayfaring  Jacob  laid  himself  down  upon  a 
stone,  as  he  was  on  his  way  from  his  angry  brother,  Esau. 
Here  he  dreamt  about  the  ladder,  reaching  up  to  heaven. 
(Gen.  28 :  10-22).  A  lonely  youth  had  gone  over  the  threshhold 
of  his  home  and  out  into  the  wide  world.  He  left  his  parents 
and  kindred  in  his  home  and  departed,  but  he  took  God  with 
him  on  his  journey,  and  it  went  well  with  him.  As  I  thought  of 
the  young  man,  sleeping  here  on  this  lonely  hill,  without  hearth 
and  home,  I  reminded  myself  of  those  who  have  been  in  the 
same  condition,  and  gone  out  to  make  their  own  way  in  the 
world.  It  is  not  easy  to  leave  home  and  go  out  in  the  world, 
but  if  the  God  of  Jacob  goes  with  our  young  men  and  women, 
they  will  be  protected. 

Here  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant  was  stationed  during  the 
days  of  the  Judges,  when  Phineas  was  chief  priest  ( Jud.  20 :  18- 
28),  and  in  the  time  of  Samuel  the  children  of  Israel  came 
hither  to  sacrifice.  The  first  king  in  the  kingdom  of  Israel, 
Jeroboam,  erected  images  of  calves  here  and  thus  Bethel  be¬ 
came  the  center  of  worship  for  the  ten  tribes,  just  as  Jerusalem 
became  the  center  for  the  two  tribes  or  the  southern  kingdom. 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


He  did  not  wish  that  his  people  should  go  np  to  Jerusalem  to 
worship,  and  hence  Bethel  became  a  center  for  the  ten  tribes 
and  Dan  was  the  other.  This  place  is  often  spoken  of  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  After  the  captivity  the  Benjaminites  occu¬ 
pied  Bethel.  It  is  not  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament.  Here 
are  a  great  many  ruins,  and  a  tower  from  which  one  can  see 
the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  a  part  of  Jerusalem. 

Over  the  naked  hills  we  walked  back  to  El-Bireh,  and  were 
met  by  some  ragged  and  dirty  fellaheen.  From  here  we 
walked  to  Ram-Allah,  about  a  mile  to  the  west  from  El-Bireh. 
Here  are  schools  and  a  cloister,  which  belongs  to  the  Latins. 
The  Protestants  have  schools  here  also,  and  the  people  spoke 
well  of  the  American  institution.  I  met  some  of  the  pupils  and 
they  were  pleased  that  they  had  an  opportunity  to  go  to  school. 
Here  is  a  flour  mill,  and  the  motive  power  is  gasolene.  We  saw 
quite  a  few  empty  gasolene  cans  around  the  place.  The  fella¬ 
heen  use  them  for  carrying  water  and  they  are  certainly  better 
than  the  leather  bags,  and  stone  jars.  Here  is  a  new  hotel  with 
excellent  rooms  in  the  upper  story.  In  the  evening  we  had  an 
opportunity  to  observe  the  picturesque  surroundings.  Among 
other  places  we  saw  to  the  southwest  Emmaus,  Mizpa,  and 
Gibeon. 

September  23  our  dragoman  woke  us  early  in  the  morning, 
and  we  started  on  our  journey  northward.  We  passed  through 
El-Bireh.  When  we  left  in  the  morning  the  Arab,  who  owned 
our  team,  was  there  to  make  up  for  his  rude  behaviour  the 
previous  day.  All  was  now  well  and  we  went  on.  In  a  little 
while  we  noticed  Tibne  to  the  northwest  on  a  hill.  Here  was 
the  old  Timnath-Serah,  a  city  which  Joshua  received  as  a  pos¬ 
session  and  in  which  he  died.  (Jos.  24:  20.)  A  little  distance  to 
the  north  of  Beeroth  we  followed  the  road  leading  to  the  left. 
After  awhile  we  see  in  front  of  us  a  valley.  This  is  the  Wady 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Jifna.  Near  by  the  road  is  the  ancient  city  of  Gophnah.  "We 
are  now  among  the  romantic  mountains  of  Ephraim.  The 
mountains  are  mostly  barren,  but  here  and  there  some  dwarf¬ 
like  trees  are  found.  There  are  some  vineyards  along  the  val¬ 
leys  with  watchtowers  in  them.  These  watchtowers  reminded 
me  of  the  words  of  the  prophet:  “And  the  daughter  of  Zion  is 
left  as  a  cottage  in  a  vineyard,  as  a  lodge  in  a  garden  of  cucum¬ 
bers,  as  a  beseiged  city.”  (Is.  1:8). 

At  8  :15  we  reached  the  road  along  which  our  Saviour,  no 
doubt,  has  traveled  many  times.  This  was  the  main  road  in  the 
Roman  times,  leading  through  Samaria.  What  a  sight  to  see 
Him  walk  here  along  these  valleys  with  His  chosen  twelve ! 
But  we  shall  by  His  grace  see  Him  in  the  life  to  come.  When 
we  arrived  at  Findjil,  a  little  village  on  the  left  hand  side  of 
the  road,  we  stepped  out  of  the  carriage  and  commenced  our 
walk  to  Seilun  or  Shiloh.  Our  coachman  drove  the  carriage 
over  the  hills  to  Khan  el-Lubban,  where  we  were  to  meet  him. 
We  walked  along  the  road  in  a  northeasterly  direction,  passing 
by  a  village  by  the  name  Talmud,  which  is  mentioned  par¬ 
ticularly  during  the  Crusades.  Here  we  saw  some  ruins  of  old 
buildings.  In  thirty-five  minutes  we  were  at  Seilun.  We  came 
on  a  height,  which  is  surrounded  by  ravines,  beyond  which 
other  hills  are  seen. 

Here  the  tabernacle  stood  for  370  years  and  hither  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  Israel  came  from  Gilgal.  Here  they  cast  lots  to  ascer¬ 
tain  how  the  land  should  be  divided.  On  the  plains  of  Jericho 
they  had  also  cast  lots.  (Jos.  18:  1-10).  From  this  place 
Joshua  sent  three  men  to  investigate  the  country  and  they  re¬ 
turned  to  Shiloh.  The  lots  were  cast  at  the  entrance  of  the 
tabernacle,  and  then  they  divided  the  land  between  the  seven 
and  a  half  tribes  on  the  west  side  of  Jordan.  (Jos.  20:  7-8.) 
Being  exhorted  by  the  elders  of  the  congregation,  the  six  hun- 

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dred  who  had  escaped  the  war  of  extermination  in  Gibeah  had 
gone  to  Shiloh  at  a  feast  of  the  Lord,  when  the  daughters  of 
Shiloh  went  out  to  dance.  They  caught  every  man  his  wife 
and  returned  to  the  land  of  Benjamin.  In  such  a  way  the  tribe 
of  Benjamin  was  preserved  among  the  others.  (Jud.  21:  15-25.) 

To  this  place  came  the  god  fearing  Hannah  with  her  son  to 
give  him  to  the  Lord,  and  here  the  Lord  called  Samuel  to  do 
the  great  work  of  a  reformer  in  Israel.  Here  it  was  that 
Samuel  said,  “ Speak,  Lord,  for  thy  servant  heareth”  (I  Sam. 
3:9).  Here  he  grew  to  be  a  prophet,  mighty  in  word  and  deed 
Here  in  Shiloh  Eli  finished  his  days,  when  he  heard  the 
lamentable  report  of  the  messenger  about  the  unfortunate 
battle  at  Aphek.  Yonder  through  the  valley  he  came  running 
with  torn  clothes,  dust  upon  his  head,  and  told  his  sad  story 
in  the  gates  of  Shiloh.  He  told  the  story  to  the  aged  Eli,  who 
was  ninety  years  old.  Eli  listened  patiently  to  the  report  of 
the  flight  of  the  children  of  Israel  from  the  Philistines  and  of 
the  death  of  his  sons;  but  when  he  heard  that  the  ark  was 
taken,  he  fell  from  off  his  seat  backward  by  the  side  of  the  gate, 
and  his  neck  brake,  and  he  died :  for  he  was  an  old  man  and 
heavy.  (I  Sam.  4:  18.)  Eli  was  a  weak  man  in  many  ways. 
His  weakness  in  the  education  of  his  children  was  a  great  mis¬ 
fortune  for  him  and  his  people.  He  was  satisfied  with,  “Nay, 
my  sons,”  and  let  it  go  at  that.  But  he  is  not  alone  in  this 
weakness.  There  are  many  Elis  in  these  days  and  we  begin  to 
see  it.  The  Christian  discipline  of  the  home,  which  ought  to 
characterize  every  family,  is  not  found  everywhere  in  these 
days,  and  we  are  beginning  to  see  the  results.  Neglect  in 
bringing  up  our  children  brings  dire  results  sooner  or  later. 

The  ark  of  God  did  not  return  to  Shiloh  and  henceforth 
this  city  sank  into  insignificance. 

As  we  walked  along  the  valley  towards  the  northwest  from 


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the  ruins,  we  thought  of  the  life  and  interest  of  the  olden 
days  at  this  center;  now  everything  is  absolutely  dead.  Per¬ 
haps  the  men  of  Benjamin  came  along  this  very  valley,  El- 
Lubban,  when  they  rushed  among  the  dancing  daughters  of 
Shiloh  and  took  wives  unto  themselves  so  that  they  might  not 
be  eliminated  as  a  tribe  in  Israel. 

In  a  short  time  we  came  to  Khan  el-Lubban  and  found  a 
resting  place  for  caravans.  We  sat  down  by  the  well,  took 
dinner,  and  rested  awhile.  While  we  sat  there,  many  camels 
and  sheep  came  to  the  flowing  well  and  quenched  their  thirst 
with  the  cool  water.  Think  of  the  significance  of  a  spring  in  a 
tropical  country  like  this !  The  poor  animals  drank  in  abund¬ 
ance  from  the  flowing  stream.  As  we  proceed,  we  notice  to 
the  left  at  the  foot  of  a  slope  a  little  village.  This  is  El- 
Lubban.  Here  we  have  the  old  Lebonah  (Jud.  21:  19).  Even 
in  this  name  we  notice  very  little  change. 

Having  passed  the  plain  to  the  east  of  El-Lubban,  we  pro¬ 
ceeded  in  a  zigzag  way  along  the  hillsides,  until  we  came  to  the 
top  of  the  mountain.  Here  is  a  splendid  view  of  the  large 
plain  of  Askar  or  El-Mukna  to  the  north,  of  Ebal  and  Gerizim 
to  the  west  of  it,  and  of  Mt.  Hermon  far  in  the  background. 
The  mountains  here  are  higher  and  the  valleys  are  wider  than 
further  south  in  Samaria.  Our  road  winds  down  the  hillsides, 
until  we  come  down  on  the  plain.  As  we  rode  along  the  plain 
we  passed  the  ruins  of  Mukna,  and  at  last  we  came  to  the  foot 
of  Mt.  Gerizim.  The  road  is  a  little  steeper  and  turns  to  the 
left  into  Shechem. 

At  the  northeast  side  of  Gerizim  we  leave  the  carriage  and 
go  down  to  Jacob’s  well.  Greek  Catholics,  who  own  the  land 
where  the  well  is  located,  have  built  a  wall  here.  We  passed 
through  the  gate  and  came,  within  a  few  steps,  to  a  church 
ruin,  just  excavated.  From  the  ancient  church  there  were  two 

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stairs  leading  down  into  a  little  chapel,  and  there  we  find  the 
well.  Each  stair  has  twelve  steps.  I  went  down  on  the 
southern  side  and  behold,  here  is  the  well  of  Jacob.  If  we  are 
uncertain  in  regard  to  other  places  in  the  Holy  Land,  there 
can  be  no  question  as  to  this  well.  Tradition  and  history  unite 
in  pointing  to  this  place.  When  Jacob  returned  from  Mesopo¬ 
tamia,  he  put  up  his  tent  outside  of  Shechem,  “and  he  bought 
a  parcel  of  field,  where  he  had  spread  his  tent,  at  the  hand  of 
the  children  of  Hamor,  Shechem ’s  father,  for  a  hundred  pieces 
of  money,  and  he  erected  there  an  altar,  and  called  it  El-e-lohe- 
Israel”  (Gen.  33:  19-20).  The  well  is  mentioned  for  the  first 
time  by  the  evangelist  John.  “Jesus  left  Judea  and  departed 
into  Galilee.  And  he  must  needs  go  through  Samaria.  Then 
cometh  he  to  a  city  of  Samaria,  which  is  called  Sychar,  near  to 
the  parcel  of  ground  that  Jacob  gave  to  his  son  Joseph.  Now 
Jacob’s  well  was  there”  (John  4:  3-6).  It  was  the  sixth  hour, 
when  Jesus  came  to  the  well — twelve  o’clock  at  noon — and  as 
He  was  tired  of  the  journey,  He  sat  down  at  the  well,  and  a 
woman  of  Samaria  came  to  draw  water.  Here  that  wonderful 
conversation  arose  between  Jesus  and  the  woman;  a  conversa¬ 
tion  which  John  has  left  posterity  in  his  gospel.  In  this  con¬ 
versation  we  find  that  Christ  had  no  need  of  being  told  what  is 
in  man,  for  he  knows  the  nature  and  the  thoughts  of  man. 
Furthermore  we  find  the  wonderful  pastoral  wisdom  in  this. 
He  begins  with  questions  of  everyday  life.  This  the  woman 
understood.  From  this  sphere  He  leads  her  into  the  higher, 
and  she  is  led  to  see  what  she  had  not  seen  before.  He  leads 
her  into  the  depths  of  the  soul-life  and  speaks  to  her  of  a  foun¬ 
tain  with  water  that  will  give  everlasting  life. 

She  asked  Him  for  this  water,  that  she  might  not  need  to 
come  and  fetch  water  any  more.  The  woman  commenced  to 
speak  of  her  Messiah  and  then  Jesus  says:  “I  that  speak  unto 

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thee  am  He”  (John  4:26).  The  woman  was  won  for  the  king¬ 
dom  of  Christ,  and  went  into  the  city  and  invited  the  citizens 
to  come  and  see  a  man  who  had  told  her  all  that  she  had  done. 
They  came  and  remained  with  Him  two  days,  and  Samaria  had 
a  visitation  from  on  high. 

Here  somewhere  sat  that  wonderful  prophet  from  Caper¬ 
naum.  When  we  came  to  the  well,  they  were  cleaning  it.  By 
means  of  ropes  and  baskets  they  were  pulling  up  sand  and 
rubbish  that  had  gathered  in  it.  These  baskets  women  carried 
away  on  their  heads.  A  man  was  at  the  bottom  and  filled  the 
baskets.  I  helped  to  wind  up  one  basket  of  sand,  and  let  me  add 
that  it  was  quite  a  job.  We  asked  a  Greek  priest  who  conducted 
the  work,  how  deep  the  well  is  and  he  said:  4 4 It  is  65  feet  deep 
now  and  is,  perhaps,  30  or  40  feet  yet  to  the  real  bottom.”  I 
sat  down  on  the  southeast  side  of  the  well  and  read  the  fourth 
chapter  of  Saint  John.  An  hour  that  I  cannot  forget.  The  man 
at  the  bottom  had  a  light,  so  that  he  might  be  able  to  see  how  to 
do  his  work.  Thus  we  had  a  chance  to  look  into  the  well  of 
Jacob. 

Having  seen  the  well,  we  went  out  of  the  chapel  into  the 
ruins  of  the  church.  It  is  likely  that  the  ruins  date  from  the 
time  of  the  Crusades.  The  Mohammedans  tore  down  the  church 
when  they  became  masters  of  the  country,  and  during  the  cen¬ 
turies  the  ruins  have  been  buried  under  the  sand  and  gravel 
that  have  been  swept  down  the  side  of  Gerizim  by  the  rain.  The 
ruins  were  covered  with  soil  from  two  to  six  feet  deep. 

Taking  the  surroundings  into  consideration,  we  cannot  be¬ 
lieve  that  the  woman  came  from  Shechem  to  draw  water,  nearly 
a  mile  to  the  west  from  the  well,  between  the  mountains  Ebal 
and  Gerizim.  There  is  a  village  within  about  five  minutes’  walk 
from  the  well,  called  Balata.  Here  stood  the  oak,  under  which 
Joshua  set  up  the  great  stone,  and  this  oak  was  by  the  sanctuary 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


of  the  Lord.  (Jos.  24:26.)  Early  Christian  tradition  and  Samari¬ 
tan  chronicle  point  to  this  place,  and  it  is  no  doubt  the  right  one. 
The  word  Balata  means  oak.  In  the  northeastern  part  of  this 
village  is  the  tomb  of  Joseph.  In  this  village  is  a  well  that  gives 
an  abundance  of  water,  and  has  done  so  for  ages.  Now  the 
question  is,  why  should  the  woman  come  so  far  to  fetch  water, 
when  she  could  have  gotten  it  at  Balata  ?  If  she  lived  in  Shechem 
she  could  have  drawn  all  the  water  she  needed  right  there,  be¬ 
cause  there  are  all  kinds  of  springs  in  and  around  the  city.  The 
answer  has  been  that  the  woman  must  have  valued  this  water 
very  much,  and  hence  she  came  to  the  well  to  draw  water.  It 
seems  that  it  was  not  customary  for  the  public  to  draw  water 
at  the  well  even  in  the  time  of  our  Saviour.  The  expression  of 
the  woman  would  indicate  this.  She  said:  “Thou  hast  nothing 
to  draw  with  and  the  well  is  deep.”  (John  4:  11).  If  they  usu¬ 
ally  drew  water  at  this  well,  there  would  have  been  some  kind 
of  contrivance  for  this  purpose. 

But  there  is  no  need  of  arguing  that  the  woman  came  from 
Shechem.  In  about  fifteen  minutes  you  will  reach  a  town  at 
the  south  east  side  of  Ebal  called  Askar.  You  will  note,  that 
there  is  not  a  great  difference  between  this  name  and  Sychar. 
Askar  is  the  Arabic  form  of  Sychar  and  means  “monument.” 
Perhaps  the  village  receives  this  name,  because  it  is  so  near  the 
tomb  of  Joseph.  Such  changes  in  the  Semitic  languages  are 
very  common.  The  distance  from  the  well  speaks  also  in 
favor  of  the  place.  We  must,  therefore,  make  a  distinction 
between  Shechem  and  Sychar.  But  it  may  be  however  it 
pleases  with  these  places,  the  well  and  the  surroundings  are  the 
same.  The  eyes  of  the  Saviour  beheld  these  mountains  and 
valleys,  and  here  along  this  road  the  merciful  Master  was 
walking.  I  found  it  rather  difficult  to  break  loose  from  this 


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place.  We  went  to  see  the  grave  or  tomb  of  Joseph,  a  distance 
of  about  1500  feet  from  the  well. 

The  eyes  of  the  Saviour  beheld  these  mountains  and  valleys, 
and  here  along  this  road  the  merciful  Master  was  walking.  I 
found  it  rather  difficult  to  break  loose  from  this  place.  We  went 
to  see  the  grave  or  tomb  of  Joseph,  a  distance  of  about  1500 
feet  from  the  well. 

On  his  deathbed  Jacob  gave  to  his  son  Joseph  a  portion 
above  his  brethren,  which  he  took  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Amorite 
with  the  sword  and  the  bow.  (Gen.  48  :22.)  The  bones  of  Joseph, 
which  were  brought  out  of  Egypt,  were  buried  here  in  this 
parcel  of  ground,  which  became  an  inheritance  of  the  children 
of  Joseph.  (Jos.  24:32.)  When  we  came  to  the  grave  a  Mo¬ 
hammedan  sat  there  and  read  his  El-Koran.  My  dragoman 
asked  for  the  key,  so  that  we  might  go  in,  but  the  watchman  said 
that  it  was  in  the  village  (Balata).  We  did  not  wish  to  stay 
until  he  had  brought  the  key  and  were  satisfied  with  looking 
through  the  door,  which  was  full  of  cracks.  On  the  floor  stood 
a  sarcophagus,  but  I  cannot  say  whether  the  bones  of  Joseph 
were  found  in  it  or  not. 

Through  the  village  Balata  we  went  westward  to  Shechem. 
A  little  distance  from  the  village  the  two  mountains,  Ebal  and 
Gerizim,  come  quite  close  to  each  other,  and  if  a  man  stood  be¬ 
tween  them,  on  the  plain,  it  would  be  quite  easy  to  hear  a  man 
speak  on  either  mountain.  Here  on  the  level  plain  the  children 
of  Israel  were  gathered  together  in  the  time  of  Joshua,  when 
he  reminded  them  of  the  blessings  of  the  Lord  and  read  the  law 
unto  them.  Here  they  heard  him  say:  “But  as  for  me  and  my 
house,  we  will  serve  the  Lord”  (Jos.  24:15).  Here  the  people 
made  a  covenant  with  the  Lord,  and  in  memory  of  this  covenant 
they  raised  a  stone  by  the  oak  of  which  we  have  spoken  before. 
Soon  we  arrive  at  Shechem,  which  is  jammed  in  between  the 


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mountains.  The  valley  is  1,600  feet  wide  where  the  city  is  lo¬ 
cated. 

The  city  of  Shechem  is  very  old.  When  Abraham  came 
from  Mesopotamia  into  the  land  of  Canaan  this  city  was  in  ex¬ 
istence.  From  the  valley  of  Hebron  Jacob  sent  his  son  Joseph 
to  find  out  the  condition  of  his  brethren,  who  were  watching  the 
flocks  here.  (Gen.  37 : 12-14.)  Shechem  was  chosen  as  one  of  the 
cities  of  refuge  on  the  west  side  of  the  Jordan  and  was  a  Leviti- 
cal  city.  To  this  place  the  ten  tribes  came  after  the  death  of 
Solomon  to  choose  a  king,  and  they  chose  Rehoboam  .  (I  Kings 
12:1.)  Here  this  king  lived,  while  he  ruled  over  Israel,  and  here 
was  his  capital  city.  (I  Kings  12:25.)  When  the  capital  city 
was  moved  to  Samaria,  Shechem  became  to  some  extent  forgotten, 
but  after  the  Babylonian  captivity  it  looms  up  again,  and  is  a 
chief  city  of  the  Samaritans.  The  Samaritans  tried  by  force 
and  craftiness  to  hinder  the  Jews  in  their  work  on  the  temple. 
They  succeeded  for  some  time,  but  after  awhile  the  Jews  were 
permitted  to  continue  with  their  building.  The  enmity  between 
the  Samaritans  and  the  Jews  existed  still  in  the  time  of  our 
Saviour.  You  will  notice  this  in  the  question  of  the  Samaritan 
woman:  “How  is  it  that  thou,  being  a  Jew,  asketh  drink  of  me, 
which  am  a  woman  of  Samaria  ?  For  the  Jews  have  no  dealings 
with  the  Samaritans7’  (John  4:9). 

When  we  arrived  in  the  city,  we  registered  at  the  Latin 
Ilospitz,  where  we  had  everything  as  we  wished.  The  monks 
were  very  congenial,  and  did  all  they  could  to  make  us  feel  at 
home.  Having  rested  awhile,  we  went  to  the  high  priest  of  the 
Samaritans,  who  lives  at  the  foot  of  Gerizim  in  the  outskirts  of 
the  town.  The  streets  are  about  as  miserable  as  you  can  imagine, 
crooked  and  dirty  and  very  often  there  is  a  stench  that  is  almost 
unbearable.  At  last  we  came  to  the  synagogue,  a  regular  hovel. 
The  high  priest  was  not  at  home;  he  had  gone  out  to  see  some 


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sick  person  at  a  hospital,  but  his  sons  were  at  home.  They  re¬ 
ceived  us  at  the  door  of  the  synagogue.  In  order  that  our  unholy 
feet  might  not  pollute  the  rug,  the  boy  rolled  it  away,  and  placed 
chairs  on  the  floor  that  we  might  have  a  seat.  One  of  the  boys 
spoke  a  little  English.  I  asked  him  for  the  privilege  of  seeing 
the  old  parchment  roll  of  the  Old  Testament.  It  is  known  that 
the  Samaritans  do  not  acknowledge  any  other  books  than  the 
Pentateuch  or  the  Five  Books  of  Moses.  He  brought  forth  a  very 
old  roll,  hut  we  told  him  that  this  was  not  the  oldest,  and  at 
last  he  came  with  it.  It  is  certainly  very  ancient,  but  surely 
not  so  old  as  the  Samaritans  claim. 

I  asked  the  boy  how  many  brothers  he  had  and  he  said, 
“Fourteen.”  I  retorted,  “Do  you  really  have  so  many?”  Then 
he  said,  1  ‘  Two  of  them  belong  to  my  uncle.  ’  ’  The  hoys  brought 
a  photograph  of  their  father  and  asked  us  to  buy  some  copies 
of  it,  but  they  charged  so  much  that  we  were  not  willing  to  pay 
the  price  they  asked.  Then  my  dragoman  paid  the  required 
baksehisch  and  so  we  departed.  As  we  did  so,  I  asked  the  boy 
how  many  Samaritans  there  are  at  present  and  he  answered, 
“About  150.”  This  people  is  gradually  becoming  extinct,  and  it 
will  not  be  long  before  they  are  all  gone.  They  are  forbidden  to 
marry  other  nationalities  and  for  this  reason  their  history  cannot 
last  long  after  this. 

Going  out  in  the  city  we  came  to  a  mosque,  which  during 
the  Crusades  had  been  a  Christian  church,  the  St  John’s  Church 
of  Shechem.  As  we  looked  in  we  saw  quite  a  few  Mohammedans 
therein.  In  Shechem  the  Mohammedans  are  very  fanatical, 
and  the  stranger  has  to  be  very  careful  not  to  arouse  their  fanati¬ 
cism  in  any  way.  When  we  passed  through  the  city  they  looked 
daggers  at  us,  and  we  could  easily  see  that  it  would  take  but  a 
spark  to  blaze  up  into  a  great  fire. 


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But  we  must  go  up  to  the  top  of  Gerizim.  I  engaged  an 
Arab  boy  and  went  up.  My  dragoman  did  not  feel  well  and  did 
not  wish  to  go  up.  We  followed  the  road  in  a  southeasterly 
direction  along  the  sides  of  the  mountain.  This  was  very  steep, 
and  the  ascent  proved  to  be  quite  a  task.  Gerizim  is  2,850  feet 
high,  and  Ebal,  on  the  north  side,  is  3,075.  At  last  we  came  to 
the  top  of  the  mountain.  Here  we  found  some  shepherds,  watch¬ 
ing  their  flocks.  Heaps  of  ruins  are  found  here,  and  especially 
on  the  eastern  edge  of  the  mountain.  Here  stood  the  temple  of 
the  Samaritans,  which  was  torn  down  by  Hyrcanus.  Judging 
from  the  ruins,  this  must  have  been  a  magnificent  temple.  Here 
is  a  wall  of  a  fortress  which  Justinian  built.  Right  near  the 
wall  of  the  fortress  stands  a  Mohammedan  “veli,”  or  the  tomb 
of  a  Mohammedan  saint.  Here  we  have  a  most  excellent  view  of 
the  Mukna  plain  and  the  whole  vicinity  even  to  Perea.  Towards 
the  east,  at  the  foot  of  a  hill  is  Salim,  near  by  Enon,  where  John 
was  baptizing.  (John  3:5.) 

I  walked  around  on  the  top  of  Gerizim  with  my  Arab  boy 
a  long  time ;  there  were  many  things  to  be  seen.  Among  other 
things  we  must  note  the  place,  where  the  Samaritans  bring  their 
Paschal  lamb  for  sacrifice.  They  stick  very  closely  to  their  re¬ 
ligious  ideas.  When  the  sun  was  about  to  set,  I  began  my  de¬ 
cent.  The  Arab  boy  ran  among  the  stones  as  nimbly  as  a  goat. 
At  last  we  are  at  the  hospitz  among  the  monks.  I  gave  the  boy 
a  franc  and  he  seemed  satisfied.  Arabs  are  very  seldom  satisfied, 
though. 

There  are  about  25,000  inhabitants  in  Shechem  at  the  pres¬ 
ent  time,  and  most  of  them  are  Mohammedans.  It  is  very  likely 
that  this  city  became  entirely  devastated  in  the  Jewish  wars, 
but  was  rebuilt.  “The  Wars  of  the  Jews,”  by  Josephus,  was 
written  in  the  year  75  A.  D.  and  he  speaks  of  this  place  as  the 
New  City,  or  Neapolis.  The  Arabs  have  changed  this  into  Nablus. 


[  306  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


During  the  night  I  slept  very  poorly,  because  of  the  Turkish 
soldiers  who  had  their  barracks  near  our  hospitz. 

The  24th  of  September  we  arose  at  five  o’clock.  This  was  my 
first  day  in  the  saddle,  and  I  was  rather  curious  to  see  how  I 
would  get  along  with  the  Arab  bronchos.  We  had  our  breakfast 
with  our  good  monks  and  they  prepared  dinner  for  us.  At  half 
past  six  our  horses  were  ready  and  we  went  away.  But  such 
horses !  They  were  the  most  wretched  animals  I  have  seen,  and 
I  rejoiced  in  the  hope  that  I  could  exchange  them  for  better  ones 
at  noon.  We  went  out  of  the  city  in  a  northwesterly  direction 
through  the  Valley  of  Shechem,  following  the  new  road  that 
leads  to  Haifa,  passing  along  hillsides,  over  ridges  and  through 
valleys.  At  last  we  came  on  a  ridge,  from  which  we  saw  towards 
the  northwest  the  old  Sebastje,  the  ancient  Samaria.  Sebastje 
is  about  six  miles  from  Shechem  and  is  located  on  an  oblong  hill. 

During  the  course  of  time  the  ten  tribes  had  three  capital 
cities,  Shechem,  Tirza,  and  Samaria.  While  the  House  of  Ahab 
ruled,  Jezreel  was  considered,  together  with  Samaria,  as  a 
capital  city.  In  the  kingdom  of  Israel  nineteen  kings  ruled, 
and  they  were  all  ungodly.  This  kingdom  lasted  from  975  to 
722  B.  C.,  when  Shalmaneser,  king  of  Assyria,  came  and  carried 
the  ten  tribes  into  the  Assyrian  captivity.  The  history  of  this 
people  shows  clearly  that  “Righteousness  exalteth  a  nation,  but 
sin  is  a  reproach  to  any  people”  (Prov.  14:  34).  One  revolution 
followed  upon  another,  and  murder  and  bloodshed  belonged  to 
the  order  of  the  day.  But  God  is  not  to  be  mocked.  The  same 
law  that  holds  good  in  the  case  of  the  individual  applies  also  to 
nations,  and  where  do  you  see  the  operation  of  this  law  more 
clearly  than  among  the  ten  tribes  ? 

While  we  are  in  Samaria,  we  think  of  the  founder  of  this 
ancient  city  of  Omri.  He  lived  six  years  in  Tirza,  and  then  he 
bought  the  hill  in  Samaria  of  Shemer  for  two  talents  of  silver, 


[  307  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 

$ 

and  built  on  this  hill  a  city  and  called  it  Shemer,  or  Samaria, 
after  the  owner  of  the  hill.  (I  Kings  16:24.)  After  Omri,  Ahab 
was  chosen  king  and  he  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  his  ungodly 
father  and  did  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  above  all  that  were 
before  him.  (I  Kings  16:30.)  During  the  time  of  this  king  the 
prophet  Elijah  lived  and  worked  for  the  upbuilding  of  God’s 
kingdom  among  the  ten  tribes.  He  was  a  kind  of  court  preacher, 
sparing  neither  the  royal  family  nor  anyone  else.  The  king 
was  unwilling  to  acknowledge  that  the  punishments  which  the 
Lord  sent  were  due  to  his  sins,  and  the  blame  was  put  on  the 
prophet  Elijah.  Such  is  the  human  heart,  and  has  been  since 
the  fall  of  Adam  and  Eve.  It  was  during  the  time  of  Ahab  that 
Mesha,  king  of  Moab,  was  subservient  to  Ahab.  “And  Mesha, 
king  of  Moab,  was  a  sheepmaster,  and  rendered  unto  the  king  of 
Israel  a  hundred  thousand  lambs  and  a  hundred  thousand  rams, 
with  the  wool.  But  it  came  to  pass,  when  Ahab  was  dead,  that 
the  king  of  Moab  rebelled  against  the  king  of  Israel.”  (I  Kings 
3  :4-5) .  It  is  concerning  this  King  Mesha  that  the  Moabite  stone 
treated.  Perhaps  it  is  not  out  of  the  way  to  relate  something 
about  this  stone  in  this  connection.  The  stone  was  erected  850 
B.  C.  to  glorify  the  victories  of  Mesha  over  the  king  of  Israel. 

In  the  year  1869,  the  19th  of  August,  a  Prussian  traveler, 
Rev.  F.  A.  Klein,  discovered  the  stone  at  Dibon,  the  ancient 
Diban.  It  is  three  and  a  half  feet  high  by  two  and  a  half  feet 
broad  and  two  feet  thick  with  a  rounded  top.  He  kept  this 
discovery  secret  for  some  time  and  did  not  tell  it  even  to  the 
prominent  men  in  Jerusalem  at  that  time.  In  1869  a  rough 
squeeze  was  taken  by  an  Arab  for  Clermont  Ganneau.  The 
Consul  Peterman  sought  to  get  hold  of  the  stone,  but  did  not 
succeed,  and  then  he  made  known  the  value  of  the  stone  to  the 
inhabitants.  They  made  it  red  hot  and  poured  cold  water  on  it 
and  broke  it  in  pieces,  so  as  to  be  able  to  make  so  much  more 

[  308  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


money  from  the  various  pieces.  They  considered  the  stone  to 
have  healing  power.  Two  large  fragments  and  eighteen  small 
ones  were  recovered.  By  means  of  these  pieces,  together  with 
the  two  squeezes  that  were  taken,  they  were  able  to  restore  the 
text  of  the  stone.  This  is  now  in  the  Jewish  court  of  the  Louvre 
at  Paris.  A  facsimile  of  this  stone  is  in  the  British  Museum.  Here 
is  the  text : 

“I  am  Mesha,  son  of  Chemosh,  king  of  Moab,  the  Dibonite. 
My  father  was  king  of  Moab  thirty  years  and  I  became  king 
after  my  father.  And  I  made  this  high  place  of  Chemosh  in 
Kerkh  as  a  token  of  gratitude  for  the  deliverance  wrought  for 
Mesha,  because  he  saved  me  from  all  that  attacked  me  and  caused 
me  to  see  my  desire  upon  all  that  hated  me.  Omri  was  king  in 
Israel  and  oppressed  Moab  many  daj^s,  because  Chemosh  was 
angry  with  his  land,  and  his  son  succeeded  him,  and  he  also 
said,  I  will  oppress  Moab.  In  my  days  he  spoke  thus.  But  I 
saw  my  desire  upon  him  and  upon  his  house,  and  Israel  perished 
forever.  Now  Omri  annexed  all  the  land  of  Medeba,  and  Israel 
occupied  it,  his  days  and  half  his  son’s  days,  forty  years  and 
restored  it  to  Chemosh  in  my  days  and  built  Baalmeon,  and  I 
made  in  it  the  Shwh  [perhaps  reservoir],  and  I  built  Kirjathaim. 
And  the  men  of  Gad  occupied  the  land  of  Ataroth  [Num.  32 : 
3,  34]  from  of  old,  and  the  king  of  Israel  built  for  himself 
Ataroth.  And  I  fought  against  the  town  and  took  it,  and  put  to 
death  all  the  people  of  the  town,  a  pleasing  spectacle  for  Chemosh 
and  for  Moab.  And  I  brought  prisoners  thence,  and  I  dragged 
them  in  the  sight  of  Chemosh  in  Keriot,  and  I  settled  in  it  men 
from  Maharath  [Makeros?].  Chemosh  said  to  me,  Go  and  take 
Nebo  from  Israel;  and  I  went  by  night  and  fought  against  it 
from  break  of  dawn  till  noon.  And  I  took  it  and  put  them  all 
to  death,  seven  thousand  men,  women  and  female  slaves — for  the 
sacrifice  of  women  belong  to  Ashtaroth  and  Chemosh.  And  I 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


took  thence  Jehovah’s  Kar  [?]  and  I  break  them  before  the 
sight  of  Chemosh.  And  the  king  of  Israel  built  Jahaz  and  occu¬ 
pied  it,  while  he  fought  against  me.  And  Chemosh  drove  him 
out  before  me,  and  I  took  from  Moab  two  hundred  men,  of  all 
its  clans,  and  led  them  against  Jahaz  and  took  it  to  add  it  to 
Dibon.  And  I  built  its  gates,  and  I  built  its  tower,  and  I  built 
the  king’s  house.  And  I  made  sluices  for  the  reservoirs  for  the 
water  in  the  midst  of  the  city.  And  there  was  no  cistern  in  the 
midst  of  the  city  in  Kerkh,  and  I  said  to  all  the  people,  Make 
for  you,  each  of  you,  a  cistern  in  his  house,  and  I  hewed  the 
timber  for  the  Kirkh  by  means  of  the  prisoners,  taken  from 
Israel.  I  built  Aroer,  and  I  built  Beth-bemoth,  for  it  had  been 
destroyed.  I  built  Bezer,  for  it  was  in  ruins.  The  men  of  Diban 
were  all  loyal,  and  I  reigned  over  a  hundred  in  the  cities,  which 
I  had  added  to  the  land.  And  I  built  Medeba  and  Beth-Diblath- 
aim.  And  as  for  Beth-baal-meon,  there  I  placed  flocks,  sheep 
of  the  land,  and  Horonaim,  wherein  dwelt  the  son  of  Dedan,  and 
Chemosh  said  to  me,  Go  down,  fight  against  Horonaim,  and  I 
went  down  and  fought.  ...” 

The  last  part  of  the  text  is  not  very  legible.  The  letters 
are  in  Hebrew,  and  without  doubt  the  very  same  kind  that 
were  used  in  the  days  of  David  and  Solomon.  This  was  a  very 
important  discovery  and  in  every  point  it  has  confirmed  the 
Bible.  Here  we  have  a  chance  to  make  comparison  with  the 
Scripture,  and  in  doing  so,  we  shall  find  that  there  is  a  marked 
correspondence  in  everything  with  the  Book.  We  find  that  all 
such  discoveries  confirm  the  Bible  story  in  detail.  This  circum¬ 
stance,  that  makes  the  stones  cry  out  against  the  unbelief  of  the 
times,  ought  to  put  to  silence  the  ignorance  of  foolish  men  (I  Pet. 
2:15),  but  no,  these  men  of  the  higher  criticism  will  always  find 
some  loophole  and  try  to  escape,  and  speak  evil  of  things  which 
they  know  not.  (Jud.  10.) 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


From  the  captivity  until  the  time  of  Herod,  the  Sacred 
history  does  not  speak  much  about  this  city  of  Sebastje.  It  was 
Herod  that  adorned  the  city  with  beautiful  buildings,  and  sur¬ 
rounded  the  same  with  a  wall.  He  also  built  a  fort  here.  In 
the  western  part  of  the  city  he  arranged  for  an  open  space,  and 
in  the  midst  of  this  he  built  a  temple  to  the  honor  of  Augustus. 
This  structure  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  the  country. 
The  name  was  changed  to  Sebastje  in  honor  of  Augustus. 

Very  early  in  the  Christian  era  the  Christian  doctrine  was 
preached  here.  Here  was  a  bishopric  and  the  bishop  attended 
the  meeting  at  Nice,  325. 

Yale  University  was  just  in  the  act  of  excavating 
in  the  western  part  of  the  hill,  and  we  were  very  much  interested 
in  this  work.  My  fellow  traveler,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Miller,  had  come 
from  Asia  Minor  to  see  the  excavation.  We  were  there  at  half 
past  eight  in  the  morning,  and  the  laborers  were  busy  at  their 
task,  but  the  professor  who  had  charge  of  the  work  was  sleeping 
in  a  tent  near  by.  We  did  not  wish  to  wake  him;  otherwise  it 
would  have  been  interesting  to  meet  him  and  find  out  something 
about  the  ruins.  We  had  a  chance  to  see  a  part  of  the  excavated 
ruins,  and  this  proved  to  be  exceedingly  interesting.  About  two 
hundred  and  fifty  women  from  Egypt  were  carrying  baskets  of 
sand  on  their  heads.  They  pay  them  usually  two  and  a  half 
piaster  a  day  or  ten  cents.  Those  who  are  strong  and  able  to  do 
very  heavy  work  received  five  piasters  a  day.  Think  of  it !  Ten 
or  twenty  cents  a  day,  working  under  the  scorching  sun  of 
Syria,  and  such  disagreeable  work  at  that !  But  they  seemed  to 
be  happy  and  marched  along  with  their  baskets  from  the  deep 
shafts  along  the  walls.  They  do  not  know  any  better,  and  so 
they  are  satisfied  with  their  lot.  We  stood  there  a  long  time 
and  watched  them  as  they  came  in  long  files  from  the  deep 

[311] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


shafts  along  the  walls  with  the  baskets  upon  their  heads.  A 
curious  sight,  indeed ! 

We  had  a  chance  to  see  the  early  walls  and  some  of  the  ruins 
of  the  houses.  They  had  uncovered  quite  an  area  in  the  western 
part  of  the  city.  The  foundations  were  built  by  the  founder 
Omri  and  his  son  Ahab.  The  stones  were  not  very  large,  but 
they  were  well  put  together.  But  the  most  beautiful  work  was 
that  which  Herod  had  built.  There  we  saw  the  marble  staircase 
to  the  temple  built  in  honor  of  Augustus,  and  this  was  very  well 
preserved.  The  temple  was  torn  down,  but  we  saw  some  of  the 
walls  and  foundations.  Before  the  stair  we  saw  a  headless 
statue  of  Augustus  in  a  box,  ready  to  be  shipped  to  Constan¬ 
tinople.  A  little  farther  west  there  were  two  round  towers,  be¬ 
tween  which  the  city  gate  was  located.  From  this  gate  there 
were  great  stairs,  leading  into  the  city.  When  they  have  dug 
up  the  foundations,  and  seen  all  there  is  to  be  seen,  they  photo¬ 
graph  the  whole  and  cover  them  up  again,  because  they  do  not 
dare  to  leave  them  uncovered.  The  Beduins  would  then  destroy 
all  they  could  get  hold  of.  Some  of  the  women  were  busy  carry¬ 
ing  the  sand  back  again  to  cover  up  the  parts  that  had  been 
photographed.  Sad,  indeed,  that  these  wild  sons  of  the  desert 
should  be  so  inclined  to  destroy  everything.  If  they  could  have 
left  this  part  of  the  ruins  uncovered,  the  public  might  have 
had  a  chance  to  see  them,  but  now  they  are  under  the  sod  and 
cannot  be  seen  at  all. 

Now  we  returned  to  the  eastern  end  of  the  hill,  following 
the  row  of  pillars  on  the  south  side  of  the  ridge.  About  half  of 
them  are  visible  ;  the  other  part  is  under  the  ground.  Going 
along  these  pillars,  we  came  to  the  middle  of  the  hill.  Here 
they  had  dug  up  the  ruins  of  a  building,  supposed  to  be  the 
remains  of  a  court  house.  We  could  clearly  see  the  place  where 
the  judges  sat  at  court.  The  seats  were  of  white  marble,  and  the 

[312] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


pillars  of  very  fine  polished  granite.  They  could  build  in  the 
olden  times ;  here  we  have  evidences  enough.  At  this  ruin  an 
Arab  was  placed  as  a  watchman,  so  that  no  one  might  photograph 
the  excavated  parts.  The  poor  Arab  was  really  in  agony,  be¬ 
cause  the  Rev.  Mr.  Miller  took  up  his  camera.  My  dragoman 
consoled  him  that  there  was  no  danger,  and  the  Arab  said :  “  If 
you  take  photographs  I  will  be  dismissed.”  However,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Miller  took  a  snapshot  and  the  watchman  did  not  seem  to 
understand  that  he  did  it. 

Now  we  mounted  our  horses,  which  some  of  the  boys  had 
watched  in  the  hope  that  they  might  get  some  bakschisch,  and 
as  we  were  on  the  point  of  going,  the  boys  cried  out  in  chorus, 
“Bakschisch,  bakschisch,”  and  our  dragoman  had  to  give  them 
some.  He  gave  them  a  few  piasters  and  they  became  satisfied. 

Now  we  passed  along  the  mountains  of  Samaria,  following 
old  caravan  roads,  and  sometimes  we  crossed  hills,  mountains 
and  valleys  in  the  footsteps  of  jackals  and  the  pathways  of 
hyenas.  My  dragoman  knows  Palestine  by  heart,  and  is  familiar 
with  every  hill  and  valley.  For  this  reason  you  feel  safe  in  his 
company.  Arriving  at  a  resting  place  by  the  name  Sileh,  we 
dismounted  at  a  fountain  or  spring  in  a  hillside.  A  group  of 
children  and  women  came  to  the  spring  to  fetch  water.  Some 
of  them  were  tatooecl  and  had  bracelets  of  silver  around  their 
arms.  I  became  surprised  when  I  saw  those  slender  women 
carry  those  heavy  jars  on  their  heads.  They  filled  them  with 
water,  but  were  not  able  to  lift  them  up  on  their  heads  without 
help.  Such  was  life  in  the  olden  times,  when  Rachel  came  to 
the  well  to  fetch  water  in  distant  Mesopotamia.  While  we  were 
waiting,  Mr.  Aboosh  suggested  that  we  should  take  our  dinner, 
and  we  did  so.  The  monks  in  Nablous  had  put  up  a  very  good 
lunch.  I  got  another  horse  after  lunch,  but  not  much  better  than 

[313] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


the  first.  I  had  to  ride  this  poor  animal  during  my  journey  in 
the  northern  part  of  Palestine. 

We  went  off  in  a  northerly  direction  and  our  next  goal  was 
Jenin.  Along  with  me  and  my  dragoman  came  a  “mule-boy’'’ 
from  Jerusalem  by  the  name  Hammadi.  He  was  not  a  boy  any 
more,  but  was  married  and  his  wife  lived  in  Jerusalem.  As 
evidence  of  the  education  and  intelligence  of  this  man,  let  me 
add  that  he  could  neither  read  nor  write  and  did  not  know  how 
old  he  was.  But  that  is  nothing  unusual  among  the  Mohamme¬ 
dans.  In  the  afternoon  we  came  on  a  ridge,  where  we  had  a 
most  excellent  view  of  the  plain  of  Dothan,  or  as  it  is  now  called, 
Arrabe.  We  came  down  to  this  plain  in  the  southwestern  end. 
I  began  to  feel  sick  as  I  rode  along  the  plain.  I  endeavored  to 
reach  Dothan,  but  it  was  not  an  easy  matter.  My  dragoman 
rode  ahead,  and  I  was  a  little  distance  behind,  followed  by  Ham¬ 
madi.  I  became  worse,  stepped  down  from  the  horse,  and  sat 
down  on  the  plain  by  the  wayside.  The  food  that  we  had  brought 
along  from  the  monks  at  Nablous  and  the  spring  water  was,  no 
doubt,  the  cause  of  it.  At  this  time  the  Syrian  fever  also  took 
hold  of  me.  I  could  not  ride  and  tried  to  walk,  but  could  not 
even  do  that.  Now  I  tried  to  drink  some  water,  but  could  not 
keep  it.  We  were  but  a  little  distance  from  Dothan  and  by  a 
strong  effort  I  succeeded  in  reaching  that  place,  which  was  lo¬ 
cated  on  the  hill  at  the  northeast  end  of  the  plain.  It  is  called 
by  the  Arabs  Jubb  Yusuf.  We  are  now  about  twelve  miles  from 
Sebastje,  and  about  five  miles  from  Jenin.  Water  was  flowing 
from  the  well,  and  there  were  a  number  of  trees  near  by.  Now 
I  lay  me  down  under  the  shadow  of  the  trees,  at  a  little  distance 
from  the  well.  This  is  said  to  be  the  well  into  which  Joseph 
was  thrown  by  his  brothers. 

As  I  lay  there  I  thought  of  my  own  situation  and  that  of 
Joseph.  I  remembered  the  story  of  the  young  boy  who  had  been 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


walking  all  the  way  from  the  Valley  of  Hebron.  His  father 
sent  him  first  to  Shechem,  but  his  brethren  were  not  there.  He 
was  told  that  they  were  in  Dothan,  and  so  he  came  to  this  place. 
And  as  the  brothers  saw  him,  they  said:  “Behold  this  dreamer 
cometh.  Come  now,  therefore,  and  let  us  slay  him,  and  cast  him 
into  some  pit,  and  we  will  say,  Some  evil  beast  hath  devoured 
him:  and  we  shall  see  what  will  become  of  his  dreams.”  (Gen. 
37:19-20). 

In  this  village  on  the  hill  the  prophet  Elisha  used  to  live. 
During  his  time  war  broke  out  between  the  king  of  Damascus, 
Benhadad  II  (920-890  B.  C.),  and  the  king  of  Israel,  Joram. 
The  prophet  informed  Joram  about  all  that  the  king,  Benhadad 
spoke  in  his  bedchamber,  and  when  he  found  out  that  Elisha 
was  the  man  that  gave  this  information,  Benhadad  sent  horses 
and  wagons  and  a  large  army,  and  the  town  of  Dothan  was 
surrounded.  Just  think  of  it!  A  whole  army  is  sent  out  to 
capture  a  single  man !  In  the  morning  an  army  was  besieging 
the  place  and  the  servant  asked :  ‘  ‘  Alas,  my  master !  how  shall 
we  do?”  Then  the  prophet  answered:  “Pear  not:  for  they 
that  be  with  us  are  more  than  they  that  be  with  them.  ’  ’  Then 
the  Lord  opened  the  eyes  of  the  young  man;  and  he  saw;  and 
behold,  the  mountain  was  full  of  horses  and  chariots  of  fire 
round  about  Elisha.”  The  army  was  stricken  with  blindness, 
and  the  prophet  brought  them  to  Samaria,  about  twelve  miles 
from  here;  and  although  they  were  his  enemies,  he  set  bread 
and  water  before  them,  that  they  might  eat  and  drink  and  go 
home  to  their  master.  (II  Kings  6:8-33.)  The  old  prophet  went 
at  them  in  a  Christian  manner,  heaping  coals  of  fire  upon  their 
heads.  Indeed,  great  things  have  happened  here  on  the  hills 
of  Dothan.  Now  there  are  only  a  few  houses  here,  where  poor 
fellaheen  live.  We  saw  a  few  men  sitting  there  among  the  fruit 
trees;  others  came  to  the  well  to  water  their  sheep  and  cattle. 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


This  place  was  forgotten  during  the  course  of  centuries,  and 
no  one  seemed  to  know  where  it  was  located.  But  in  the  year 
1852  Van  de  Welde  and,  in  the  same  year,  Robinson  happened 
to  hear  the  people  in  the  vicinity  speak  of  Dothan,  or  Dothaim, 
and  in  this  way  the  lost  city  or  town  was  discovered.  Dothan 
is  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  warfare  against  Judea.  In 
this  connection  Betulia  is  also  mentioned.  It  is  very  near  Dothan 
and  is  now  called  Sanus. 

Having  rested  by  the  well  among  the  trees  at  Dothan,  I  re¬ 
covered,  and  endeavored  to  continue  the  journey  to  Jenin, 
about  five  miles  to  the  northeast.  But  now  my  “ mule-boy”  be¬ 
came  sick  and  I  did  not  know  what  to  do.  What  could  my  poor 
dragoman  do  with  two  sick  men,  out  here  in  the  wilderness? 
Sometimes  I  rode  and  sometimes  I  walked,  leaning  against  my 
horse,  and  sometimes  I  sat  down  to  rest.  Surely  I  was  on  the 
point  of  giving  up.  Sometimes  we  followed  a  poor  road,  and  at 
other  times,  again,  we  departed  from  it,  so  as  to  come  by  the 
most  direct  route  to  our  destination.  We  saw  the  minarets 
beyond  the  hills  towards  the  northeast,  and  I  thought  we  were 
near  the  goal,  but  it  took  some  time  ere  we  came  to  the  town. 
AVe  came  into  a  valley  and  my  dragoman  showed  me  a  little 
ravine  where  six  or  seven  men,  some  years  ago,  shot  one  another 
down  to  the  last  man.  This  region  is  known  to  be  very  insecure 
for  travelers.  Bloody  feuds  have  been  fought  here  between 
sheiks.  We  succeeded  in  getting  through  safely,  though.  A 
little  distance  outside  the  town  we  saw  how  the  women  carried 
gravel  in  baskets  on  their  heads  to  repair  the  road.  Surely  the 
lot  of  woman  in  the  Orient  is  very  hard !  We  rode  into  the  town 
and  put  up  at  the  German  hotel,  recently  built.  Here  is  a 
fountain  that  gives  an  abundance  of  water,  and  there  are  many 
orchards  around  the  village. 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Jenin  is  located  on  the  boundary  line  between  Samaria  and 
Galilee,  in  a  valley  where  the  mountains  of  Samaria  cease  and 
the  plain  of  Jezreel  extends  towards  the  north.  Jenin  is  the 
old  En-Gannin,  i.  e.  Orchardwell  (Jos.  19:21),  and  was  a  Levite 
city  (Jos.  21:29).  Josephus  relates  that  it  was  located  on  the 
boundary  line  between  Samaria  and  the  plain  of  Jezreel.  He 
calls  it  Genaea.  From  the  well  in  this  village  a  brook  runs 
down  into  Kishon,  and  this  brook  is  enlarged  by  some  other 
springs  on  the  plain  to  the  west  from  here.  The  orchards  were 
in  a  very  good  condition,  and  here  we  saw  some  palm  trees. 
The  town  has  about  3,000  inhabitants,  and  some  of  them  are 
Christians.  The  people  at  this  place  are  known  for  their  inclina¬ 
tion  to  steal,  and  our  “mule-boy”  was  on  the  lookout,  so  that 
no  long-fingered  Arab  would  annex  some  of  our  belongings 
during  the  night. 

When  I  came  to  the  hotel  I  could  scarcely  walk,  and  as  I 
came  into  the  bedroom  in  the  second  story,  I  threw  myself  down 
on  the  bed,  unable  to  take  off  my  clothes.  My  dragoman  helped 
all  he  could.  I  took  some  medicines  that  I  had  brought  along 
from  Jerusalem,  and  towards  midnight  I  fell  asleep.  At  one 
o’clock  at  night  I  awoke  and  was  much  better.  I  awoke  my 
dragoman  and  told  him  I  could  continue  my  journey  in  the 
morning.  He  was  surprised  at  my  speedy  recovery,  and  I  was 
not  any  less  surprised  myself.  We  arose  at  half  past  seven.  I 
tried  to  take  breakfast,  but  could  not  eat  very  much.  At  half 
past  seven  we  were  in  the  saddle  and  went  out  of  the  town.  I 
thanked  God  who  had  restored  me  so  that  I  could  continue. 


[317] 


Chaptek  XV 

FROM  JENIN  TO  TIBERIAS 


THE  25th  of  September  we  rode  out  on  the  plain  of  Jezreel. 

In  this  early  hour  of  the  morning  the  sun  was  very  warm, 
as  it  rose  over  the  Gilboa  Mountain  in  the  east,  and  I  prophesied 
a  very  hot  day.  A  little  later  in  the  forenoon  a  breeze  blew 
from  the  northwest  over  the  plain,  and  this  made  our  journey 
a  little  more  pleasant.  We  are  on  the  historic  plain  of  Jezreel. 
Let  us  remind  ourselves  of  some  of  the  events  that  have  taken 
place  here  in  southern  Galilee.  But  before  we  do  that,  let  us 
try  to  describe  this  wonderful  plain.  It  has  the  form  of  a  tri¬ 
angle  whose  base  extends  from  Jenin  to  the  hills  below  Nazareth, 
and  is  about  fifteen  miles  long.  The  north  side,  which  runs 
along  the  hills  of  •  Galilee,  is  twelve  miles,  and  the  southern, 
running  along  the  hills  of  Samaria  and  Carmel,  is  eighteen 
miles  long.  In  the  west  there  is  a  bay,  extending  to  Haifa. 
From  the  base  of  the  triangle  there  are  three  bays  extending 
eastward.  These  are  separated  by  the  mountains  of  Little  Her- 
mon  and  Gilboa.  The  highest  point  of  the  plain  is  at  Jezreel, 
and  is  600  feet  above  the  sea  level  and  1,300  feet  above  the 
Jordan.  This  plain  is  called  once  in  the  Bible  “the  Land  of  the 
Valley”  (Jos.  17 :16).  It  is  also  called  the  “Valley  of  Megiddo” 
(II  Chron.  35:22;  Zach.  12:11).  When  the  Greek  language 
was  spoken  in  this  country,  it  was  called  Esdraelon  and  Stradela. 
Josephus  calls  it  the  Great  Plain  (Bel.  Jud.  3:1);  the  Arabs 
call  it  the  “Pasture  of  the  Children  of  Amir”  (Merdj  ibn  Amir). 
During  the  summertime  this  plain  is  dry  and  affords  no  difficulty 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


in  crossing  it,  but  in  the  winter  it  is  impossible  to  cross  certain 
parts.  The  soil  is  very  rich  and  gives  good  returns.  In  the 
summertime  it  is  full  of  cracks,  and  in  the  rainy  season  these 
become  filled  with  water.  This  plain  is  almost  desolate  and  only 
a  sixth  of  it  is  under  cultivation.  The  Beduins  put  up  their 
tents  here  in  the  summertime  and  feed  their  flocks  and  cattle. 

In  the  early  morning  we  saw  two  gazelles  running  over  the 
plain  and  heard  two  shots.  This  reminded  me  of  the  word  of 
the  psalmist  David,  “The  hind  of  the  morning,”  or  the  hind, 
hunted  in  the  morning  (Ps.  22:1).  After  a  little  while  we  ob¬ 
served  some  villages  on  Gilboa.  One  of  these  is  El-Fukuah, 
whence  this  range  of  mountains  has  its  present  name,  Jebel  El- 
Fukuah.  Another  village  is  Jelban,  which  reminds  us  of  Gilboa. 
This  mountain  is  spoken  of  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  only  in  con¬ 
nection  with  the  story  of  the  death  of  Saul  and  his  sons. 

While  my  mind  was  engaged  with  the  history  of  the  un¬ 
happy  Saul,  we  came  to  Zerin,  the  old  Jezreel,  which  is  located 
on  a  little  ridge,  whose  height  is  about  100  feet.  The  history  of 
this  place  extends  back  to  the  time  of  Ahab,  when  he  located  his 
capital  city  here  and  built  the  ivory  house  (I  Kings  22:39). 
Sometimes  he  lived  here  and  sometimes  in  Samaria  (I  Kings 
20:1-2;  22:10).  Here  the  vineyard  of  Naboth  was  located,  the 
vineyard  that  the  ungodly  Jezebel  procured  for  her  husband 
Ahab.  When  the  king  went  down  to  take  possession  of  the 
vineyard,  Elijah,  the  Tishbite,  met  him  and  said:  “In  the  place 
where  dogs  licked  the  blood  of  Naboth  shall  dogs  lick  thy  blood, 
even  thine”  (I  Kings  21:19).  And  thus  it  happened  according 
to  the  word  of  the  prophet.  In  this  old  place  there  is  a  tower, 
from  the  top  of  which  there  is  a  splendid  view  of  the  plain. 
Was  it,  perhaps,  in  this  tower  the  watchman  stood,  when  he 
observed  the  messenger,  who  came  from  the  unruly  people  on 
the  other  side  of  Jordan  (II  Kings  9:17)  ?  Some  think  so.  But 


[319] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


this  tower  is  very  likely  of  a  later  date.  To  this  place  it  was 
that  the  prophet  Elijah  went  before  the  carriage  of  Ahab,  when 
he  came  from  Carmel  to  escape  the  rain  (I  Kings  18:45-46). 
Here  the  ungodly  Jezebel  had  to  pay  for  her  transgressions. 
When  the  son  of  Ahab,  Joram,  was  visited  by  the  king  of  Judah, 
Aliaziah,  the  newly-annointed  king,  Jehn,  shot  him  with  an  arrow 
between  the  shoulders,  so  that  the  arrow  passed  out  through  the 
heart,  and  he  fell  down  in  his  carriage. 

When  Jehn  came  to  Jezreel,  Jezebel  heard  of  it,  and  she 
painted  her  face  and  looked  out  at  the  window.  But  at  the 
command  of  the  king  the  eunuchs  threw  her  down,  so  that  the 
blood  was  sprinkled  on  the  wall,  and  on  the  horses,  and  he  drove 
over  her.  And  when  he  had  come  in,  he  did  eat  and  drink  and 
said :  ‘  ‘  Go,  see  now  this  cursed  woman,  and  bury  her,  for  she  is  a 
king ’s  daughter.  ’ 7  And  they  went  to  bury  her :  but  they  found 
no  more  of  her  than  the  skull,  the  feet,  and  the  palms  of  her 
hands.  Wherefore  they  came  again  and  told  him.  And  he  said : 
‘‘This  is  the  word  of  the  Lord,  which  He  spake  by  His  servant 
Elijah,  the  Tishbite,  saying,  In  the  portion  of  Jezreel  shall  dogs 
eat  the  flesh  of  Jezebel:  and  the  carcass  of  Jezebel  shall  be  as 
dung  upon  the  face  of  the  field  in  the  portion  of  Jezreel;  so  that 
they  shall  not  say,  This  is  Jezebel”  (II  Kings  9:30-37).  God  is 
not  to  be  mocked.  “Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he 
also  reap.”  The  slaves  of  sin  too  often  forget  that  the  “wages 
of  sin  is  death.” 

Zerin  is  now  a  miserable  place,  but  was  once  upon  a  time 
a  very  important  town  in  the  tribe  of  Issachar.  Here  we  have 
a  most  excellent  view  over  the  plain  westward.  To  the  south¬ 
west  we  see  the  ruins  of  Taanach  and  Megiddo.  Only  a  pile  of 
pieces  of  jars  and  walls  of  houses  together  with  sepulchres,  cut 
out  in  the  rocks,  are  to  be  seen  here  at  present.  Below  the  old 
village  is  a  mosque.  Perhaps  this  was  a  Christian  church  at 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


one  time.  About  four  and  a  half  miles  to  the  north  of  this  place 
is  Megiddo.  Here  the  German  Palestine  Fund  has  made  ex¬ 
cavations.  Megiddo  is  now  called  El-Lejun.  In  this  plain  it 
was  that  Sisera  and  Barak  fought  for  the  supremacy.  Deborah, 
who  judged  in  Israel,  sang  a  song  in  honor  of  this  warfare. 

We  are  still  at  Zerin  and  ride  down  the  slope  on  the  north 
side  of  the  village  to  the  real  plain.  Here  we  follow  the  foot  of 
Gilboa,  until  we  arrive  about  a  mile  eastward  at  the  northeast 
side  of  the  mountain.  Here  is  a  fountain  which  flows  from  the 
mountain  and  forms  a  large  pool.  Right  by  the  spring  is  a 
grotto  in  the  mountain.  This  is  the  spring  Harod,  which  is  now 
called  Ain  Jalud.  We  rode  right  over  this  pool  of  water  and 
came  into  the  grotto.  A  number  of  people  were  sleeping  here. 
We  sat  down  for  a  little  while  and  found  a  most  excellent  pro¬ 
tection  from  the  rays  of  the  sun.  The  water  is  very  good,  and 
I  do  not  blame  the  Arabs  for  gathering  here  in  the  summertime. 
The  water  was  not  very  cold,  but  very  clear.  To  this  well  Gideon 
came  with  his  warriors.  When  the  Lord  wants  to  do  great 
things,  he  finds  small  and  insignificant  means.  He  came  to 
Gideon,  as  he  sat  under  the  terebinth  at  Ophrah,  and  said  unto 
him:  “The  Lord  is  with  thee,  thou  mighty  man  of  valour.” 
Now  Gideon  did  not  consider  himself  a  mighty  man,  neither  did 
he  think  that  the  Lord  was  with  him,  for  he  said :  “  Oh  my  Lord, 
if  the  Lord  be  with  us,  why  then  is  all  this  befallen  us,  and  where 
be  all  His  miracles,  which  our  fathers  told  us  of,  saying,  Did  not 
the  Lord  bring  us  up  from  Egypt?  But  now  the  Lord  hath 
forsaken  us  and  delivered  us  into  the  hands  of  the  Midianites” 
(Jud.  6:12-13).  He  saw  only  suffering  and  distress,  and  a 
people  rejected  by  reason  of  its  sin.  But  the  Lord  said:  “Go  in 
this  thy  might,  and  thou  shalt  save  Israel  from  the  hand  of  the 
Midianites:  have  I  not  sent  thee?”  (Jud.  6:14).  Gideon  had  no 
power  in  himself,  his  family  was  poor  in  Manasseh,  and  he  was 

[  321  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


the  least  in  his  father’s  house.  But  in  this  his  weakness  he  was 
strong,  and  he  relied  on  God’s  promise  with  his  300  warriors 
and  went  out  against  the  Midianites,  Amalekites  and  others, 
who  were  encamped  in  the  valley,  numerous  as  grasshoppers. 

The  plain  of  Jezreel  extends  to  the  north  from  the  spring. 
It  is  not  very  wide  at  this  point,  and  on  the  north  side  of  the 
plain  is  the  Hill  of  Moreh.  The  Midianites  were  encamped  on 
the  plain,  towards  this  hill.  Gideon  drove  the  Midianites  to 
the  other  side  of  the  River  Jordan,  and  the  land  had  peace  for 
forty  years.  On  this  plain  Saul  pitched  his  camp  against  the 
Philistines  by  the  well  in  Jezreel,  when  he  fought  his  last  battle 
(I  Sam.  2,9  :1) . 

Resting  in  the  grotto  a  little  while,  we  went  out,  mounted 
our  horses,  and  were  off  in  a  northwesterly  direction  over  the 
plain.  Our  first  goal  is  Solam,  the  ancient  Shunem,  on  the 
southwestern  slope  of  Djebel  Nebi  Dahi,  or  Little  Hermon.  This 
was  a  very  interesting  goal,  because  Shunem  is  often  spoken  of 
in  the  Bible.  It  is  located  within  the  tribe  of  Issachar,  three 
miles  from  Jezreel,  and  five  miles  from  Gilboa.  There  the  army 
of  Saul  encamped.  During  his  last  night  on  earth  he  went  to 
the  witch  at  Endor,  which  place  is  located  on  the  northeast  side 
of  Little  Hermon. 

Towards  the  southwest  we  see  Carmel  about  twelve  miles 
away.  You  can  see  almost  the  whole  range  at  this  place.  To 
yonder  mountain  a  woman  went  from  Shunem  to  bring  the 
prophet  Elijah.  The  prophet  used  to  be  a  guest  at  the  house 
of  this  woman,  while  he  was  wandering  along  among  his  people. 
This  woman  had  a  son  who  died.  And  she  came  to  the  prophet 
that  he  might  resurrect  him.  Elijah  came  and  aroused  him  from 
the  dead.  From  Shunem  was  the  beautiful  Abishag  (I  Kings  1:3), 
and  from  this  place  was  the  Shulamite,  the  bride  of  Solomon 
(Songs  of  Sol.  6:13).  The  village  is  at  present  almost  hidden 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


between  trees  and  cactus  hedges.  We  came  to  the  northwestern 
outskirts  of  the  village,  where  we  stopped  to  rest  and  take  dinner. 
Owing  to  my  experiences  during  the  past  day,  I  was  very  weak, 
and  felt  pleased  to  rest  awhile.  As  to  my  dinner,  I  must  say  that 
this  did  not  amount  to  much.  At  half  past  two  we  started  for 
Nain,  which  is  located  on  the  western  slope  of  this  mountain. 
As  we  were  turning  towards  the  northeast  around  the  slope  of 
the  mountain,  we  met  four  robbers  on  horseback.  They  had  all 
kinds  of  weapons.  Two  of  them  had  long  spears,  and  these  we 
noticed  first  on  the  other  side  of  a  hill.  When  they  came  nearer 
to  us,  we  observed  that  the  two  others  each  had  a  gun  and 
cartridges  in  a  belt  around  the  waist.  Besides  this  all  four  had 
pistols  and  knives,  and  their  faces  were  covered  up  to  their  eyes. 
My  dragoman  rode  ahead,  I  came  next,  and  then  my  “mule- 
boy/’  Hammadi.  I  understood  immediately  what  kind  of  people 
they  were,  and  I  wondered  how  our  meeting  with  them  would 
turn  out.  Mr.  Aboosh  hurried  his  horse,  and  so  did  I.  When 
they  came  in  front  of  the  dragoman,  they  begged  for  tobacco. 
He  answered,  “I  have  none,”  and  rode  right  ahead.  When  we 
came  behind  a  little  hill,  where  they  could  not  see  us,  Mr.  Aboosh 
turned  around  and  asked,  “Do  you  know  who  they  were?” 
I  answered,  ‘  ‘  Robbers,  no  doubt.  ’  ’  He  replied.  ‘  ‘  Yes,  of  the  worst 
kind,  ’  ’  He  furthermore  said  that  they  did  not  dare  to  attack  us, 
because  they  thought  that  I  was  an  Englishman,  and  they  have 
great  respect  for  them.  We  considered  ourselves  lucky  in 
getting  away  from  those  rascals. 

Here  we  have  a  splendid  view  of  the  plain  in  every  direction. 
To  the  northeast  we  notice  the  beautiful  Tabor,  to  the  northwest 
the  whole  range  of  the  mountains  of  Galilee  extends  before  us, 
while  Carmel  is  seen  in  all  its  majesty  towards  the  southwest. 
On  the  hill  towards  the  northwest  is  the  goal  for  the  day,  Naz¬ 
areth.  We  have  seen  this  town  all  day,  ever  since  we  left  Jenin. 

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Away  back  in  the  rear  towards  the  north  the  mountains  of 
Galilee  are  extending  their  majestic  ridges.  On  the  plain  are 
quite  a  few  Beduin  tents. 

My  dragoman  had  sent  the  “mule-boy”  directly  from  Jez- 
reel  to  Shunem.  Now  he  thought  of  sending  him  over  the  plain 
to  Nazareth ;  but  when  he  saw  all  those  Beduin  tents,  he  did  not 
dare  to  do  that,  but  told  him  to  follow  us  all  the  way.  The  black 
tents,  made  out  of  goats’  skins,  were  scattered  over  the  plain. 
It  must  have  looked  something  like  that  in  the  time  of  Midian, 
when  Gideon  drove  those  wild  hordes  back  to  Gilead  and  liberated 
Israel.  Towards  the  north  there  were  a  number  of  Beduins  also ; 
and  as  we  had  to  go  that  way,  I  wondered  how  we  would  be  able 
to  get  through  their  ranks.  Among  such  people  you  are  never 
sure.  Riding  about  half  an  hour,  we  came  to  Nain.  This  village 
is  at  present  a  miserable-looking  sight,  and  I  could  hardly  under¬ 
stand  how  human  beings  could  live  in  such  hovels. 

This  little  village  has  become  world  renowned  because  of 
what  the  great  Prophet  from  Nazareth  did  here,  when  he  passed 
through  Galilee  on  his  missions.  The  Evangelist  Luke  informs 
us  that  the  Lord  Jesus,  having  delivered  His  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  went  into  Capernaum,  and  there  he  healed  the  centurion’s 
servant  (Luke  7:10).  The  following  day  He  came  to  a  city 
called  Nain,  followed  by  his  disciples,  and  much  people,  and  here 
at  the  gate  He  resurrected  the  widow’s  son  (Luke  7  :11-16).  The 
Master  came  across  the  plain  of  Jezreel,  passing  by  Mount  Tabor 
and  up  the  hillside  to  this  place.  The  city  had  then  only  one 
gate,  facing  north,  as  it  does  now,  but  perhaps  it  was  located 
a  little  farther  towards  the  north  then.  Here  the  Master  spoke 
those  powerful  words,  “Young  man,  I  say  unto  thee  arise,”  and 
he  that  was  dead  sat  up  and  began  to  speak.  Here  life  and 
death  met  each  other  and  life  conquered. 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Nain  means  “beautiful, ”  and  here  is  a  beautiful  view 
towards  the  north  and  west,  but  this  place  has  been  made  more 
beautiful  through  the  visit  of  our  Saviour.  Towards  the  north, 
in  the  hillside  below  the  village,  there  are  a  great  many  tombs, 
hewn  out  in  the  rock.  Perhaps  it  was  into  one  of  these  they 
meant  to  lay  the  son  of  the  widow.  As  we  left  Nain,  we  rode 
a  little  to  the  northeast  to  be  able  to  see  Endur,  the  ancient 
Endor.  This  place  is  located  on  the  northeast  slope  of  Little 
Hermon.  Here  the  witch  was  living  to  whom  Saul  came  in  his 
dire  distress  (I  Sam.  28).  The  houses  are  made  out  of  sunburnt 
clay,  some  of  stones,  and  they  all  look  as  though  a  witch  might 
find  a  suitable  place  here  yet.  We  rode  out  on  the  plain  and 
went  towards  Tabor.  This  place  is  one  of  the  renowned  moun¬ 
tains  of  the  land  and  is  1,300  feet  above  the  plain.  Towards  the 
west  from  this  mountain  there  is  a  ridge  that  connects  it  with 
the  hills  of  Nazareth.  As  we  passed  over  the  plain,  on  the  south¬ 
west  side  of  it,  we  had  a  chance  to  look  at  it  very  carefully,  and 
surely  Tabor  is  beautiful ;  in  the  Scriptures  it  is  also  an  emblem 
of  beauty.  “Tabor  and  Hermon  shall  rejoice  in  thy  name” 
(Ps.  89:13).  Along  this  mountain  the  boundary  line  between 
Issachar  and  Zebulon  extended  from  southwest  to  northeast 
(Jos.  19  :12-22).  Tabor  is  mentioned  six  times  in  the  Old  Testa¬ 
ment,  but  not  in  the  New.  Gideon  asked  what  kind  of  men  they 
were,  whom  they  killed  on  Tabor,  and  they  answered:  “They 
were  all  like  you,  each  one  looked  as  a  king’s  son”  (Jud.  8-18). 
Hosea,  the  prophet  among  the  ten  tribes,  cried  out  to  this  people, 
because  they  had  fallen  away  from  their  God :  ‘  ‘  Hear  ye  this,  0 
priests ;  and  harken,  ye  house  of  Israel ;  and  give  ye  ear,  0  house 
of  the  king ;  for  judgment  is  towards  you,  because  ye  have  been 
a  snare  on  Mizpah,  and  a  net  spread  upon  Tabor”  (Hos.  5:1). 
The  prophet  has  reference  to  the  idolatry  which  Jeroboam  in¬ 
stituted  in  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes  at  Bethel  and  Dan 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


(I  Kings  12:32).  From  this  statement  it  becomes  clear  that 
idolatry  was  practiced  even  upon  Mount  Tabor.  In  his  prophecy 
concerning  Egypt,  Jeremiah  says:  “As  I  live,  saith  the  King 
whose  name  is  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  Surely  as  Tabor  is  among  the 
mountains,  and  as  Carmel  by  the  sea,  so  shall  he  come”  (Jer. 
48:18). 

We  are  familiar  with  the  fact  that  not  only  the  Jews,  but 
other  Oriental  peoples,  built  fortresses  on  mountain  tops,  so 
that  they  might  be  able  to  defend  themselves  better  against  the 
attacks  of  enemies.  For  this  reason  it  is  very  likely  that  a  town 
was  built  here  on  the  top  of  this  mountain.  But  we  have  no 
information  about  a  town  here  before  218  B.  C.  Josephus  re¬ 
lates  that  he  built  walls  on  the  top  of  Tabor.  This  work  lasted 
forty  days.  He  also  speaks  of  the  people  that  lived  there  in  his 
day,  or  about  67  A.  D.  Vespasian  conquered  them,  since  they 
could  not  hold  out  very  long,  as  there  was  no  water  except  cistern 
water.  Other  water  must  be  brought  up  from  the  plain  (Jud. 
Bell.  2:20:6:4:1:8).  On  the  top,  which  is  somewhat  cut  off, 
are  quite  a  few  ruins  from  Roman  times,  and  also  from  the 
time  of  the  Crusades.  The  Latin  Christians  have  an  altar  there, 
at  which  their  priests  say  mass  every  year.  The  Greeks  also 
have  an  altar,  and  have  religious  exercises  there  on  certain 
occasions. 

Mount  Tabor  has  become  renowned  by  the  legend  that  the 
transfiguration  of  Christ  took  place  here.  This  is  said  to  be 
the  “holy  mount”  which  the  Apostle  Peter  speaks  about 
(II  Pet.  1:18).  Some  of  the  early  church  fathers  believed  that 
Tabor  was  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  and  among  them  we 
have  Augustine,  who  speaks  about  the  “Saviour’s  tents  on 
Tabor.”  But  there  are  so  many  and  binding  evidences  against 
this  mount  being  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration  that  we  shall 
have  to  give  up  this  idea  and  seek  it  elsewhere.  According  to 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


the  New  Testament  there  are  strong  reasons  to  believe  that  the 
Mount  of  Transfiguration  is  Hermon.  The  only  thing  that 
speaks  in  favor  of  Tabor  is  a  tradition  from  a  very  late  date, 
and  this  is  by  no  means  unanimous. 

We  rode  over  Jezreel  towards  the  southwest  side  of  the 
mountain  and  passed  by  the  Beduins  who  had  put  up  their  tents 
there.  We  hurried  the  best  we  knew  how,  and  came  by  them 
without  any  trouble.  As  we  draw  near  the  hills  of  Nazareth, 
we  notice  to  the  right  of  us  a  little  village  called  Deburieh.  This 
is  the  old  Daberath  (Jos.  19:12;  21:28),  a  Levite  city,  not  far 
from  the  boundary  line  of  Zebulon  and  Issachar. 

When  Rameses  II  came  through  these  regions  about  1325 
B.  C.,  he  captured  several  cities  in  this  part  of  the  country,  and 
among  them  Dapur  is  mentioned  and  another  one,  Shalama. 
Dapur  is  now  Daberath,  and,  Shalama  is  now  Solam,  or  Shunem. 
Daburieh  is  now  a  little  Arab  village  of  no  significance.  Riding 
to  the  south  of  this  place,  we  continued  until  we  came  to  the  foot 
of  the  Hills  of  Nazareth.  Right  there  is  a  village  called  Iksal, 
the  old  Kesulloth,  or  Chisloth-Tabor  (Jos.  19:12,  18).  Near 
this  place  is  a  part  of  an  old  caravan  road.  This  is,  no  doubt, 
the  old  main  road  that  the  Egyptians  followed,  when  they  made 
their  warlike  expeditions  to  Assyria  and  Babylon.  When  the 
Assyrians  and  the  Babylonians  went  down  to  Egypt,  they  came 
along  the  same  road.  Here  is  the  old  “Via  Maris,”  as  it  was 
designated  during  the  Middle  Ages,  or  as  it  is  called  in  the  Book 
of  Isaiah,  “the  way  of  the  sea”  (Is.  9  :1).  Think  of  the  caravans 
that  have  passed  by  here  along  this  plain  and  by  this  ridge ! 
Here  the  armies  of  Egypt  have  marched  along  to  the  Euphrates, 
and  from  the  Euphrates  to  the  Nile.  Palestine  has  been  likened 
unto  a  bridge  between  two  worlds,  and  this  illustration  is  very 
striking,  because  through  this  country  thousands  upon  thousands 
have  gone  to  foreign  lands,  carrying  merchandise  or  marching 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


along  as  warriors  with  weapons  in  their  hands,  and  with  gar¬ 
ments  rolled  in  blood.  Let  ns  not  forget  that  the  soil  of  Palestine 
has  been  drenched  in  blood  time  and  again. 

We  are  now  passing  through  Iksal,  a  very  rickety  little 
village.  The  houses  are  made  of  sunburnt  clay,  and  everything 
looks  dilapidated.  As  we  rode  along  a  very  dingy  street,  children 
and  women  came  out  of  their  huts  and  looked  with  astonishment 
at  the  strangers.  Here  I  observed  how  the  women  sat  by  the 
mill,  grinding  grain  of  some  kind.  The  poor  people  looked 
very  miserable.  At  last  we  are  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  or 
ridge.  Here  we  stopped  awhile  and  beheld  the  surroundings 
and  the  village  particularly.  Then  we  began  our  wanderings 
along  the  steep  hillsides.  The  road  winds  along  the  side  of  the 
ridge  in  a  zigzag  manner,  and  is  so  steep  that  we  cannot  ride, 
but  are  obliged  to  dismount  and  lead  our  horses.  At  last  we 
came  upon  the  top  of  the  mountain,  and  had  a  most  excellent 
view  of  southern  Galilee. 

Think  of  the  battles  that  have  been  fought  on  this  plain, 
below  us  towards  the  east  and  southeast!  We  have  alluded  to 
the  battlefield  of  Gideon  and  Rarak.  Here  we  must  remind  our¬ 
selves  of  the  battle  fought  by  Napoleon,  who  won  a  complete 
victory  over  his  opponents,  who  led  a  larger  army  into  the 
battle  than  he  did.  When  Napoleon  I  had  conquered  Egypt, 
he  went  up  to  Palestine  and  captured  Gaza  and  Jaffa,  and  in¬ 
tended  to  capture  Acre,  but  did  not  succeed.  That  very  year 
he  won  a  complete  victory  over  the  Turks  on  this  plain  of  Jezreel. 
The  engagement  is  called  the  ‘  ‘  Battle  of  Tabor,  ’  ’  and  was  fought 
the  10th  of  April,  1799.  An  officer  marched  down  from  the 
hills  of  Nazareth  to  attack  the  enemy  with  an  army  of  only  3,000 
soldiers.  The  enemy  numbered  15,000  infantry  and  12,000  cav¬ 
alry,  but  nevertheless  this  officer  drew  up  his  army  against  them. 
The  Turks  rushed  onward  as  a  prairie  fire  over  the  plain,  but 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


were  met  with  a  murderous  fire  near  El-Fuleh.  For  six  hours  the 
little  army  held  out  against  the  superior  forces  of  the  Turks. 
Then  Napoleon  came  with  an  army  of  3,000  soldiers,  and  from 
that  time  the  battle  did  not  last  long.  He  drove  the  Turks  in 
wild  flight  over  the  plain.  How  peculiar  that  Napoleon  should 
come  to  this  ancient  battleground  and  try  his  strength  against 
the  Turks ! 

We  stood  a  long  time  and  looked  intently  at  this  most 
excellent  view.  There  is  Tabor  to  the  east,  Little  Hermon  to 
the  southeast,  and  Gilboa  a  little  farther  on  to  the  right.  The 
mountains  of  Samaria  form  the  boundary  line  to  the  south, 
and  in  the  southwest  Carmel  protrudes  its  majestic  ridge.  I 
felt  very  tired  after  the  day’s  travel,  but  this  proved  to  be  so 
interesting  that  I  forgot  all  and  tried  to  impress  this  Biblical 
view  in  my  mind.  From  the  pinnacle  of  the  ridge  we  rode 
westward,  crossing  another  ridge,  and  as  soon  as  we  had  come 
up  on  the  top  we  beheld  Nazareth  before  us,  quite  near.  The 
whole  day  I  had  seen  it  on  the  top  of  the  mountain,  but  now  I 
had  come  so  near  that  I  could  view  this  childhood  home  of  the 
Saviour  at  close  range.  We  rode  into  the  city  from  the  south¬ 
east  and  saw  some  threshing  floors  outside  of  the  town.  Nazareth 
is  located  on  a  ridge,  and  faces  to  the  southeast.  This  ridge 
extends  from  northeast  to  southwest,  and  is  covered  here  and 
there  with  shrubs  and  some  trees. 

It  was  on  a  Saturday  that  we  came  to  this  historic  place. 
It  was  half  past  five  o’clock,  and  we  therefore  did  not  have  time 
to  see  much  of  the  town;  and  besides,  I  did  not  feel  very  well. 
We  went  to  the  northwestern  part  of  Nazareth,  left  our  horses 
in  the  keeping  of  Hammadi  and  registered  at  the  Hotel  Victoria. 
Here  we  remained  over  Sunday.  From  my  window  I  had  a 
splendid  view  of  the  surroundings,  and  rejoiced  to  behold  those 
very  views  which  the  Saviour  had  looked  at  so  many  times.  As 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


I  was  very  tired,  I  went  to  bed  rather  early  in  the  evening. 
The  wife  of  the  hotel-keeper  informed  me  that  the  Syrian  fever 
was  playing  havoc  in  Nazareth  and,  Haifa,  and  added  that  she 
also  had  been  quite  sick.  From  her  description  of  the  fever  I 
drew  the  conclusion  that  I  had  that  sickness  also,  and  I  soon 
found  out  that  abu  rukeb  was  not  to  be  played  with. 

I  could  hardly  comprehend  that  I  was  in  Nazareth,  and 
while  I  awoke  in  the  night,  I  wondered  if  it  was  true  that  I  was 
in  the  place,  “where  He  had  been  brought  up”  (Luke  4:  16). 
During  the  night  I  did  not  sleep  well.  This  fever  makes  itself 
manifest  by  a  severe  itch  and  then  certain  pimples  on  the  body. 
Sunday  I  had  to  stay  at  the  hotel  all  forenoon.  At  eleven  o’clock 
a  missionary,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Carpenter,  called  on  me.  He  spoke 
of  his  work  and  of  its  difficulty  here  in  Syria.  The  field,  in 
Nazareth  is  very  hard  and  requires  a  great  deal  of  patience. 
That  was  the  experience  of  the  Saviour  in  His  days.  Many  of 
the  Mohammedans  are  very  kind  and  courteous,  but  they  are 
the  most  difficult  to  be  won  for  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  He  said 
that  the  strongest  opponents  to  the  Gospel  are  often  won  for 
Christ’s  kingdom,  while  those  who  are  so  very  kind  and  give 
their  assent  do  not  accept  the  invitation  and  become  saved.  Chris¬ 
tianity  in  Palestine  is  on  a  very  low  level,  said  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Carpenter,  and  he  spoke  the  truth,  as  far  as  I  had  been  able  to 
find  out.  The  Church  of  England  is  working  very  diligently  in 
various  parts  of  Palestine,  and  the  work  has  not  been  in  vain. 
It  is  well  known  that  all  Turkish  countries  are  very  hard  fields 
for  the  Christian  missionaries.  The  heathenism,  which  we  call 
Mohammedanism,  is  very  hard  to  conquer  for  Christ  and  His 
kingdom,  and  yet  it  might  be  that  our  Christian  heathenism  is 
still  worse. 

We  are  in  Nazareth,  the  childhood  home  of  Jesus,  or  as  the 
Arabs  call  it,  En-Nasira.  Here  are  about  11,000  inhabitants,  of 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


whom  only  2,000  are  Mohammedans,  the  rest  are  Christians. 
Of  these,  two-thirds  are  orthodox  Greeks,  a  third  is  Latin,  Moron- 
ites,  United  Greeks,  and  Protestants.  The  people  of  Nazareth 
do  not  permit  Jews  to  live  within  the  boundary  lines  of  the 
city.  The  people  here,  who  are  known  to  be  rather  quarrelsome, 
are  engaged  in  agriculture,  commerce  and  other  industries.  The 
women  of  Nazareth  are  known  for  their  beauty.  This  I  had 
occasion  to  observe  at  the  well  of  Mary,  near  by  our  hotel.  Naz¬ 
areth  is  divided  into  three  parts.  The  Latins  live  in  the  south¬ 
western  part,  the  Greeks  in  the  northern  and  northeastern,  and 
the  Mohammedans  in  the  eastern  part.  As  you  observe  Nazareth 
from  the  plain  of  Jezreel,  you  notice  a  great  many  white  houses. 
Nazareth  is  surrounded  with  a  certain  glory;  it  is  one  of  those 
quiet  places,  towards  which  the  soul  is  longing,  so  as  to  have 
a  chance  to  meditate  and  pray. 

This  place  is  not  spoken  of  in  the  Old  Testament.  It  is 
through  Christ  that  Nazareth  has  won  distinction.  The  Evan¬ 
gelist  Luke  informs  us,  “That  the  angel  Gabriel  was  sent  from 
God  unto  a  city  of  Galilee,  named  Nazareth,  to  a  virgin  espoused 
to  a  man  whose  name  was  Joseph,  of  the  house  of  David;  and 
the  virgin’s  name  was  Mary”  (Luke  1:26-27).  Then  came  the 
mandate  from  the  Emperor  Cassar  Augustus  that  all  the  world 
should  be  taxed,  every  one  in  his  own  city,  and  Joseph  went  up 
from  Galilee,  out  of  the  city  of  Nazareth,  into  Judea,  unto  the 
city  of  David,  which  is  called  Bethlehem  (Luke  2:1-4).  This 
done,  they  returned  to  Nazareth  to  dwell  there.  In  this  way 
the  prophecy  was  fulfilled,  which  says  that  he  shall  be  called 
Nazarene  (Matt.  2:21-23).  This  place  must  have  been  very 
insignificant,  inasmuch  as  Nathaniel  asked  Philip:  “Can  there 
any  good  thing  come  out  of  Nazareth?”  (John  1:46).  Here  the 
great  Teacher  spent  His  childhood  days,  separated  from  the 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


noise  and  tumult  of  the  world,  helping  his  father  in  his  occupa¬ 
tion  as  a  carpenter. 

At  twelve  years  of  age  he  was  permitted,  according  to  the 
Mosaic  law,  to  follow  his  parents  to  the  feast  of  Passover  at 
Jerusalem.  His  experience  in  the  temple  we  remember  from 
the  Gospel  story.  He  went  along  with  His  parents  to  “  Nazareth 
and  was  subject  unto  them,  and  He  increased  in  wisdom,  and 
age,  and  in  favor  with  God  and  man”  (Luke  2:51-52).  Here  in 
the  humble  home  of  his  parents  He  was  brought  up  for  His  great 
mission.  It  seems  rather  strange  that  He  should  spend  so  long 
a  time  in  this  secluded  part  of  the  land,  before  He  appeared 
before  the  world.  But  even  in  this  His  example  is  of  the  great¬ 
est  significance  to  us.  Here  He  spent  thirty  years  of  His  life, 
before  He  came  before  Israel  with  His  great  message.  In  our 
days  some  go  at  it  quite  differently,  when  children,  moved  by 
the  Spirit,  go  forth  to  teach  and  preach.  It  is  not  easy  to  har¬ 
monize  such  procedures  with  the  example  of  the  Master.  Paul 
has  given  us  a  wholesome  rule  to  follow,  when  he  says:  “Not  a 
novice,  lest  being  lifted  up  with  pride  he  fall  into  the  condemna¬ 
tion  of  the  devil”  (I  Tim.  3:6).  If  there  is  anyone  who  needs 
to  be  prepared  for  his  profession,  it  is  the  messenger  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  When  the  Saviour  was  about  thirty  years  old,  he 
came  from  Nazareth  and  was  baptized  by  John  in  the  Jordan 
(Matt.  3  :13) .  After  His  baptism  he  returned  to  Cana  in  Galilee, 
and  attended  the  marriage  feast  (John  21:11).  At  Passover 
He  paid  a  visit  to  Jerusalem  and  cleansed  the  temple,  where¬ 
upon  he  returned  to  Galilee  through  Samaria,  and  at  the  well 
of  Jacob  spoke  to  the  woman  of  Samaria.  Proceeding  northward 
He  came  to  Nazareth,  and  went  into  the  synagogue  and  stood 
up  to  read.  At  this  time  he  delivered  His  sermon  on  Isaiah 
61:1,  and  applied  these  words  upon  Himself  and  said:  “This 
day  is  this  Scripture  fulfilled  in  your  ears”  (Luke  4:21).  Be- 


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cause  of  this  sermon  they  drove  Him  out  of  the  synagogue,  and 
out  of  their  city,  and  led  Him  to  the  brow  of  the  hill  whereon 
their  city  was  built,  that  they  might  cast  Him  down  headlong. 
The  inhabitants  of  Nazareth  could  not  stand  the  truth,  and  tried 
to  get  rid  of  such  a  witness.  Christ  now  moved  to  Capernaum, 
and  after  this  it  is  called  “His  own  city”  (Matt.  9:1).  After 
some  time  He  returned  to  Nazareth,  and  spoke  in  the  synagogue, 
and  many  were  astonished  at  His  teachings  and  said:  “From 
whence  hath  this  man  these  things?  And  what  wisdom  is  this 
which  is  given  unto  Him  that  even  such  mighty  works  are 
wrought  by  His  hands  ?  ’  ’  But  after  awhile  they  remember  that 
He  was  the  carpenter,  the  son  of  Mary,  and  take  offence  at  His 
humble  ancestry.  Jesus  marveled  because  of  their  unbelief. 

Jesus  is  often  called  the  Nazarene.  Furthermore,  it  was  in 
the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  the  Nazarene  that  the  Apostles  per¬ 
formed  their  miracles  (Acts  4:10).  On  the  cross  Pilate  wrote, 
“Jesus  of  Nazareth,  king  of  the  Jews,”  and  when  Saul  of  Tarsus, 
trembling,  fell  to  the  ground  outside  of  Damascus,  and  asked: 
“Who  art  thou,  Lord?”  the  Lord  answered  and  said:  “I  am 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  whom  thou  persecutest.  ”  Nazarene  was  a 
nickname,  given  to  Him  by  His  enemies,  and  His  followers  were 
called  Nazarenes.  God  has  chosen  the  foolish  things  of  the  world 
to  confound  the  wise  (I  Cor.  1:27). 

It  would  seem  that  Joseph  was  dead  at  the  time  when  Jesus 
was  crucified.  The  mother  of  Jesus  did  not  return  to  Nazareth, 
but  remained  with  the  Apostle  John  (John  19:27).  She  is  sup¬ 
posed  to  have  died  at  the  home  of  John  in  the  year  48.  The 
brethren  of  Jesus  also,  as  it  seems,  left  Nazareth.  To  begin  with, 
they  did  not  believe  in  Him  (John  7:5),  but  afterwards  they 
received  the  doctrines  of  Jesus  (Acts  1 :14).  From  church  history 
we  learn  that  Christians  were  not  permitted  to  live  in  Nazareth 
before  the  time  of  Constantine.  Several  churches  are  mentioned 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


in  this  city — the  church  father,  Hierome,  speaks  of  the  Church  cf 
Annunciation,  and  another  church,  built  on  the  place  where 
Jesus  was  brought  up. 

In  1187  Saladin  captured  Nazareth.  The  Mameluk  Sultan 
devastated  it  entirely,  and  no  one  lived  there  in  1263.  The  city 
became  uninhabited  till  1620.  The  Franciscan  monks  were 
then  permitted  to  erect  the  Church  of  Anunciation,  but  it  was 
not  complete  until  110  years  afterwards. 

During  the  last  century  Nazareth  has  been  visited  by  a 
throng  of  pilgrims,  and  they  are  on  the  increase.  I  felt  thank¬ 
ful  that  I  was  permitted  to  see  this  place,  and  having  been  in 
this  city  about  a  day  and  a  night,  I  must  try  to  go  out  to  see 
the  historic  places.  We  visited  the  church  of  Annunciation. 
This  temple  is  located  in  the  middle  of  the  town,  and  is  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  erected  on  the  spot  where  the  angel  greeted  the 
Virgin  Mary  with  these  words,  “Hail,  thou  that  art  highly 
favored,  the  Lord  is  with  thee :  blessed  art  thou  among 
women.”  (Luke  1:  28.)  Along  the  walls  of  the  church  are 
carpets,  in  which  illustrations  from  the  life  of  Christ  are  em¬ 
broidered.  Below  the  altar  is  the  Grotto  of  Annunciation.  On 
a  marble  stair  we  come  down  to  the  Angel  Chapel,  where  we 
find  two  altars.  The  one  is  dedicated  to  the  honor  of  Jehoiakim, 
the  father  of  Virgin  Mary.  The  other  altar  is  hallowed  to  the 
honor  of  Gabriel.  From  this  chapel  we  go  down  into  another, 
and  here  we  find  two  pillars.  At  one  of  these  the  angel  is  said 
to  have  stood  when  he  came  with  the  greeting  to  Mary,  and 
hence  this  pillar  is  called  the  Pillar  of  Gabriel.  The  other  is 
called  the  Pillar  of  Mary.  Right  opposite  the  entrance  is  an 
altar,  on  which  these  words  are  written,  “Hie  verbum  caro  fac¬ 
tum  est,”  i.  e.  “Here  the  word  became  flesh.”  The  walls  in 
this  chapel  are  covered  with  marble. 


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The  early  tradition  is  to  this  effect  that  the  house  of  the 
Virgin  Mary  stood  on  this  very  spot.  The  Empress  Helena  is 
said  to  have  discovered  the  house  of  the  Virgin  and  built  a 
church  on  this  spot.  When  Palestine  was  captured  by  the 
Moslems  1291,  the  house  of  the  Virgin  Mary  was  carried,  the 
10th  of  May,  to  Raunitza  in  Dalmatia  and,  three  and  a  half 
years  later,  the  9th  of  September,  1294,  to  Loretto,  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Recanati  in  Italy,  where  it  is  now  found  un¬ 
der  the  designation,  “Casa  Santa,”  and  hosts  of  Catholics  make 
pilgrimages  to  this  place  annually.  This  is  nothing  but  a  monk 
legend,  pure  and  simple. 

To  the  right  of  the  altar  in  the  Annunciation  church  is 
Joseph’s  chapel.  Behind  the  church,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
this  chapel,  is  the  kitchen  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  The  monk 
who  showed  us  around  in  this  church,  said,  “This  was  no 
kitchen;  it  is  only  so  called.”  Of  the  house  of  the  Virgin  Mary 
there  are  only  two  pillars  left,  and  they  are  the  ones  which 
are  in  the  Annunciation  Chapel. 

From  this  church  we  walked  to  the  shop  of  Joseph,  a  little 
to  the  northeast  from  the  church,  and  in  the  Mohammedan 
quarter.  Even  this  shop  belongs  to  the  Latins.  This  place  is 
surrounded  by  a  wall.  A  chapel  in  the  neighbourhood,  which 
was  then  used  temporarily,  was  also  visited  by  us.  In  this 
little  church  we  were  shown  a  painting,  portraying  Christ 
helping  His  father  as  a  carpenter.  From  here  we  went  to  the 
Armenian  church.  This  is  supposed  to  be  located  on  the  very 
spot  where  the  synagogue  was  located  in  which  Jesus  spoke  to 
the  citizens  of  Nazareth.  From  this  synagogue  He  was  driven 
out,  and  brought  to  the  edge  of  the  mountain,  on  which  their 
city  was  built.  Now  the  question  is,  Where  is  this  precipice 
located?  Not  far  from  the  church  of  the  Maronites  is  a  very 
steep  cliff.  This  cliff  must  have  been  still  higher  two 

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thousand  years  ago,  because  during  the  course  of  ages  a  lot  of 
rubbish  and  sand  must  have  filled  in  the  place  below  this  rock. 
But  the  place  is  within  the  city  at  this  time,  and  the  Scriptures 
say  that  they  drove  him  out  of  the  city.  In  all  likelihood  the 
city  did  not  extend  so  far  as  it  does  now,  and  this  clifi  at  that 
time,  therefore,  was  located  outside  of  the  city.  That  is  what 
the  Greeks  believe.  The  Roman  Catholics  cling  to  another 
tradition.  According  to  this  the  right  place  is  to  be  found  an 
hour’s  journey  to  the  southeast  of  the  city.  This  hill,  or  brow 
of  the  hill,  is  visible  at  Nazareth,  and  to  the  right  of  this  hill  is 
a  valley  that  leads  down  into  the  plain  of  Jezreel.  The  Roman 
place  has  not  much  evidence  in  its  favor.  But  be  this  place 
where  it  may !  This  action  on  the  part  of  the  people  of  Naza¬ 
reth  is  an  evidence  against  them,  and  shall  continue  to  speak 
during  coming  ages  of  their  enmity  and  bitterness  against  their 
greatest  Son.  As  we  came  back  to  the  hotel,  we  heard  a  noise 
and  saw  a  gathering  of  people  down  the  street.  In  the  midst 
of  this  gathering  we  saw  a  veiled  woman,  led  by  some  maidens. 
This  woman  was  a  bride,  just  married,  and  on  the  way  to  her 
future  home.  This  group  of  women  was  followed  by  a  band  of 
men  and  women,  who  were  singing  and  beating  the  drum.  It 
was  a  very  happy  throng.  Here  and  there  along  the  streets 
their  friends  came  out  with  soft  drinks,  which  her  maidens 
gave  her  of  which  they  themselves  also  tasted.  Mr.  Aboosh 
and  I  followed  along,  and  came  to  the  home  of  the  couple  on 
the  hillside,  at  the  end  of  a  street.  When  she  came  to  the  house, 
she  took  a  piece  of  dough,  and  put  it  on  the  upper  doorpost. 
In  this  way  she  wished  to  preserve  herself  and  her  husband 
from  evil  tongues,  and  make  sure  that  her  home  would  be  a 
happy  one.  After  a  little  while  we  heard  a  noise  down  the 
street,  and  went  down  to  meet  the  throng.  And  behold,  there 
comes  the  bridegroom,  accompanied  by  a  great  crowd  with 


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swords  and  staves.  They  do  this  to  assure  him  that  they  will 
stand  him  by  in  his  future  life  as  his  friends.  To  me  it  did  not 
look  very  friendly  to  see  them  swing  their  swords  and  scream 
at  the  top  of  their  voices.  When  the  bridegroom  came,  he  was 
expected  by  the  bride  and  the  crowd  that  followed  her.  I  then 
thought  of  the  words  of  the  Saviour,  “Behold  the  bridegroom 
cometh,  go  ye  out  to  meet  him.  Then  all  those  virgins  arose 
and  trimmed  their  lamps.”  (Matt.  25:  6-7.)  This  event  gave 
me  a  little  insight  into  the  home  life  of  the  Orient  of  today, 
and  I  valued  this  experience  very  much.  They  are  real  hours 
of  joy  to  these  children  of  nature.  Without  doubt  the  Saviour, 
as  He  walked  along  these  streets,  saw  such  events  many  a  time ; 
and  the  Master  in  His  childhood  days  would  often  come  along 
and  partake  in  the  doings  of  His  people.  He  was  present  at 
the  marriage  feast  of  Cana,  blessed  those  present  by  His  pres¬ 
ence,  and  changed  water  into  wine. 

Having  seen  all  this,  I  felt  very  tired,  and  returned  to  the 
hotel  to  rest.  In  the  evening  I  went  to  take  supper  with  Rev. 
Carpenter,  and  I  spent  the  evening  in  his  home.  It  is  very 
refreshing  to  meet  with  such  sanctified  characters.  A  splendid 
family.  We  spoke  of  the  mission  work  in  Nazareth  and  he  said 
again  that  it  is  a  hard  field.  But  he  had  seen  some  progress 
and  this  kept  up  his  courage.  Having  returned  to  the  hotel,  I 
went  to  bed,  but  my  sickness  kept  me  awake  a  great  deal  of 
the  night.  But  the  very  thought  that  I  was  in  Nazareth  gave 
me  so  very  much  comfort  that  the  night  did  not  seem  long. 
Now  the  question  was,  whether  I  should  dare  to  continue  my 
journey  in  the  morning  or  not.  At  8  o’clock  I  went  out  to  ob¬ 
serve  the  life  at  Mary’s  fountain.  My  hotel  is  near  by,  and  I 
had  passed  by  this  well  many  times.  The  well  is  on  the  east 
side  of  the  street,  and  the  water  is  brought  here  through  a 
subterranean  duct  at  a  little  distance  in  the  hillside.  A 


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church  is  built  over  this  well.  It  is  called  Gabriel’s  Church, 
and  is  owned  by  the  Greeks,  who  believe  that  the  angel  Gabriel 
revealed  himself  to  the  Virgin  Mary  at  this  well.  From  the 
tower  of  this  church  I  had  occasion  to  listen  to  the  most 
peculiar  ctime  that  I  had  ever  heard.  This  is  the  only  fountain 
in  Nazareth,  and,  no  doubt,  the  Virgin  Mary  had  come  many 
a  time  to  fetch  water  for  her  home,  just  as  the  women  of 
Nazareth  are  doing  now.  At  the  well  I  stood  a  long  time, 
watching  them,  as  they  were  talking  and  laughing,  while  they 
were  filling  their  jars  with  water.  To  this  spring  Christ  and 
His  mother  came  and  He,  perhaps,  brought  home  many  jars 
filled  with  fresh  water.  Think  of  the  opportunity  of  seeing 
Him  here  by  the  fountain !  The  very  fact  that  He  had  walked 
along  these  hills  and  in  the  valley  below  has  thrown  a  glory 
over  the  place  that  shall  never  pass  away.  It  was  great  to  be 
permitted  to  stand  at  the  well  and  to  drink  of  its  flowing 
streams,  but  it  is  greater  to  have  His  word,  the  living  water, 
and  it  will  be  still  more  glorious  to  see  Him  as  He  is,  in  the 
mansions  above.  Although  my  sickness  somewhat  hindered 
me  from  enjoying  my  visit  in  the  childhood  hometown  of  Jesus, 
still  I  found  this  one  of  the  most  interesting  places  in  Palestine. 
There  was  a  certain  stillness  and  sweet  Sabbath  rest  in  and 
around  the  city  among  the  hills  of  Galilee,  and  my  spirit  was 
drawn  with  a  mysterious  power  to  Him,  who  through  His  so¬ 
journ  here  has  made  Nazareth  a  memory  for  ever.  0  Memor¬ 
able  place,  hallowed  by  the  residence  of  the  Godman,  thou  hast 
a  glory  which  will  at  all  times  stand  forth  for  the  Christian 
soul !  My  visit  was  altogether  too  short,  only  two  nights  and  a 
little  more  than  a  day,  but  I  received  memories  here  which  shall 
be  with  me  as  long  as  I  am  in  the  land  of  the  living. 

September  27th  in  the  morning  we  continued  our  journey. 
At  first  I  wondered  whether  I  would  be  able  to  continue  my 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


travel  through  the  northern  part  of  Galilee.  The  Lord 
strengthened  me,  however,  and  I  could  continue  without  much 
difficulty.  At  nine  o’clock  in  the  morning  our  “mule-boy” 
brought  our  horses  to  the  hotel  and  we  went  away.  We  passed 
by  Mary’s  fountain  to  the  right  and  Gabriel’s  church  to  the 
left.  My  dragoman  told  me,  while  riding  by,  that  they  had  a 
lawsuit  regarding  the  well.  Two  persons  owned  their  various 
pieces  of  land,  side  by  side,  above  the  spring.  They  found  that 
the  original  spring  was  on  the  land  of  one  and  then  passed 
through  the  land  of  the  other,  right  near  the  boundary  line, 
and  the  question  was  this :  To  whom  does  the  fountain  belong  ? 
This  water  has  thus  become  a  “water  of  contention”  (Ex.  17: 
7).  We  followed  the  street  leading  by  the  home  of  the  mis¬ 
sionary  Carpenter,  and  ascended  the  hills  to  the  north  of  Naza¬ 
reth,  and  came  at  last  to  a  top  in  order  to  take  a  good  final  look 
at  the  birthplace  of  Jesus.  And  truly  nature  has  lavished  with 
a  liberal  hand  on  the  surroundings  of  this  location.  We  are  on 
the  way  northward,  and  I  would  never  have  a  chance  to  see 
this  panorama  again  at  such  a  near  range,  and  for  this  reason  I 
found  it  difficult  to  tear  myself  lose  from  this  place.  Down  in 
the  valley  and  up  on  these  hills  His  holy  feet  have  walked 
around,  and  here  He  grew  up  a  Saviour  and  Redeemer  for  the 
whole  human  race.  Here  He  also  helped  his  foster  father  in 
his  work  as  a  carpenter.  Here,  then,  He  went  about,  tending 
faithfully  to  His  work,  until  He  was  called  to  appear  before 
Israel.  How  wonderful  is  this  Son  of  man !  What  an  example 
did  He  not  give  in  everything !  Let  me  see  Him  by  the  car¬ 
penter ’s  bench  and  every  honest  calling  will  be  sanctified  for 
me ;  let  me  see  Him  grow  up  under  the  kind  and  guiding  hand 
of  His  parents,  and  the  youthful  days  in  the  home  will  have  a 
special  meaning  for  me.  The  glory  of  Christ  in  His  private  life 
presented  itself  vividly  here  in  His  birthplace;  and  as  I  was 

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meditating  on  these  things  on  the  ridge  above  Nazareth,  I  could 
scarcely  leave  this  historic  and  memorable  location.  Here  on 
the  hill,  you  will  notice  various  institutions  of  mercy,  built 
by  a  merciful  Christian  world,  instigated  by  His  love. 

But  let  us  continue.  We  cannot  stop  any  longer.  Our 
road  led  us  in  a  northeasterly  direction.  Over  this  pathway 
the  Lord  wandered  many  a  time,  and  I  cannot  describe  how  I 
felt  as  I  was  riding  along  the  hills  and  through  the  valleys. 
After  half  an  hour’s  ride  we  came  to  a  village,  called  Er-Rene. 
To  the  right  of  the  road  was  the  well  Ain-Cana.  A  little 
before  ten  o  ’clock  we  saw  a  little  village  on  a  hill  to  the  north¬ 
west,  called  Medjed.  This  is  the  old  Gath-Hepher,  the  home¬ 
town  of  Jonah  (II  Kings  14:  25).  According  to  Jewish  and 
Christian  tradition  the  prophet  is  buried  here.  Jonah  was  thus 
from  Galilee.  The  learned  Scribes  and  the  Pharisees  in  Jeru¬ 
salem  forgot  this  when  they,  at  the  suggestion  of  Nicodemus 
ithat  it  was  proper  to  find  out  what  Christ  had  done,  answered, 
“Art  thou  also  of  Galilee?  Search,  and  look :  for  out  of  Galilee 
ariseth  no  prophet.”  (John  7:  52.)  The  learned  also  make 
mistakes. 

From  here  we  have  to  ride  half  an  hour,  and  then  we  are 
at  Kafr  Kenna.  Here  is,  according  to  ecclesiastical  tradition, 
the  Cana  of  Galilee,  where  Christ  changed  water  into  wine. 
The  valley  which  surrounds  it  is  covered  with  beautiful  or¬ 
chards,  and  to  the  southwest  from  the  village  is  a  spring.  We 
went  there,  and  our  horses  drank  with  contentment  from  the 
fresh  water.  A  number  of  Arabs  stood  by  and  watered  their 
flocks  and  camels. 

John  the  Evangelist  informs  us  that  Christ  was  here 
twice,  and  he  was,  no  doubt,  here  many  times,  because  Cana  is 
only  four  and  a  half  miles  distant  from  Nazareth.  Those  who 
like  to  make  use  of  beverages,  have  contended  that  it  is  not 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


wrong  to  use  wine,  because  Christ  changed  water  into  wine. 
But  we  remember  that  Christ  said  at  one  time,  “And  take  heed 
to  yourselves,  lest  at  any  time  your  hearts  be  overcharged  with 
surfeiting,  and  drunkenness,  and  cares  of  this  life,  and  so  that 
day  come  upon  you  unawares’’  (Luke  21:  34).  The  wine  used 
in  Palestine  for  ordinary  purposes  is  not  of  the  same  kind  as  is 
used  in  this  and  other  countries.  It  is  not  fermented  to  such 
a  degree.  Furthermore,  the  very  fact  that  the  Lord  was  pres¬ 
ent  at  the  marriage  is  a  guarantee  that  they  did  not  use  the 
wine  to  such  an  extent  that  they  became  drunk.  Under  no  cir¬ 
cumstances  would  He  contribute  to  anything  of  the  kind.  On 
another  occasion  when  Jesus  was  here  in  Cana,  a  certain  noble¬ 
man,  whose  son  was  sick,  came  to  Him  from  Capernaum.  This 
nobleman  was  in  the  service  of  Herod  Antipas,  and  had  heard 
that  Jesus  had  come  back  from  Judea  into  Galilee.  When  he 
asked  Him  to  come  down,  for  his  son  was  on  the  point  of  death, 
Christ  said  to  him,  “Except  ye  see  signs  and  wonders,  ye  will 
not  believe.”  Then  the  nobleman  joined  in,  “Sir,  come  down, 
ere  my  child  die,  ’  ’  and  then  Christ  said,  ‘  ‘  Go  thy  way ;  thy  son 
liveth”  (John  4:  46-53).  And  he  believed  and  went  home  to 
find  his  son  well  again.  The  nobleman  and  his  whole  house 
believed  in  Christ,  as  a  result  of  this  experience. 

We  rode  into  the  village  at  the  western  end  and  reached 
the  place,  where  Christ  is  said  to  have  changed  the  water  into 
wine.  The  Franciscans  have  a  convent  here  and  nearby  is  a 
church,  which  is  supposed  to  be  built  on  the  spot  where  Jesus 
performed  His  miracle.  Nearby  is  a  Latin  chapel  and  they  also 
contend  that  it  is  built  on  the  place  where  the  miracle  was 
done. 

We  did  not  stop  very  long  in  Cana,  but  went  right  on  in  a 
northeasterly  direction.  Just  as  we  came  out  of  the  town,  we 
were  met  by  some  Christian  women,  who  placed  some  crochet 

[341] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


work  on  the  saddle,  and  insisted  that  I  should  buy  some.  I  did 
so  and  then  they  wished  me  to  buy  more. 

Within  about  twenty  minutes  we  came  into  a  long  wide 
valley.  Here  we  had  a  good  view  of  Carmel,  Tabor,  and  the 
mountains  in  northern  Galilee.  We  saw  villages  here  and 
there  on  the  mountain  ridges,  and  we  met  some  teams  and  car¬ 
riages  going  back  and  forth.  It  was  very  desolate  among  these 
mountains  and  valleys.  We  sat  down  in  a  valley  under  some 
\fruit  trees  to  eat  our  dinner,  which  we  had  brought  along  with 
us  from  Nazareth.  Even  now  I  was  very  weak,  but  had  reason 
to  thank  the  Lord  that  He  had  permitted  me  to  go  so  far  on  my 
way.  About  two  o’clock  we  continued  our  travel.  From  the 
place  where  we  had  rested,  there  is  a  road  leading  down  to 
Tiberias.  We  sent  Hammadi  directly  down  and  with  my  drag¬ 
oman  I  went  to  Kurun  Hattin,  or  the  “ Mount  of  Beatitudes.” 
We  arrived  there  at  2:45  P.  M.  It  was  a  very  difficult  job  to 
J  ascend  this  ridge,  because  there  were  piles  of  stones  obstructing 
the  way.  This  hill  is  about  100  feet  above  the  surrounding 
land,  1,000  feet  above  the  Sea  of  Gennesaret,  and  about  500  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  We  dismounted 
from  our  horses  and  led  them  up  on  the  ridge.  This  looks  just 
like  a  camel’s  hack  at  a  distance.  Here  we  have  a  most  excel¬ 
lent  view  of  the  northern  part  of  Galilee,  and  no  wonder  that  I 
was  hurrying  up  with  a  beating  heart.  I  shall  never  forget  the 
view  that  met  my  eyes.  I  stood  speechless  for  a  long  time  at 
this  most  interesting  and  historic  panorama.  There  are  Tabor 
and  Carmel  towards  the  south ;  towards  the  southeast  the 
mountains  of  Gilead  heave  their  majestic  mass  skyward,  and  it 
is  like  a  world  in  itself  to  behold  this  charming  mountain  range 
beyond  the  Jordan ;  look  down  into  the  Jordan  valley  and  there 
you  see  that  historic  river  like  a  crooked  snake  winding  down 
its  hollow ;  just  to  the  east  of  us  is  that  sea,  of  which  we  have 

[  342] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


read  so  much  from  our  childhood  days,  and  along  the  shores  we 
observe  the  ruins  of  Capernaum,  Bethsaida,  Magdala,  and  many 
other  places.  Down  through  the  Dove  valley  we  see  the  plain 
of  Gennesaret,  on  the  other  side  of  the  sea  we  have  Gamala  and 
Gadara,  and  in  the  northeast  Safed  rests  on  the  hill,  so  clearly 
in  view.  Further  on  towards  the  northeast  in  the  background 
Mount  Hermon  raises  its  snowwhite  head  towards  the  blue  and 
clear  sky.  Think  of  the  events  that  have  taken  place  within 
the  limits  of  the  horizon  from  this  very  place.  Down  there  is 
the  smiling  sea  of  Tiberias  and  on  its  rippled  surface  there  are 
some  sails,  filled  by  the  afternoon  breezes.  Tiberias  is  close  by 
the  shore  right  to  the  east  of  us  and  hidden  underneath  a  hill. 
Here  I  sat  down  on  a  stone  to  read  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 
Meanwhile  my  dragoman  lay  down  to  sleep  on  another  stone, 
and  our  poor  horses  were  moving  around  to  eat  whatever  they 
could  find  between  the  stones.  I  had  never  read  this,  the  most 
excellent  sermon  delivered  on  earth,  with  such  commentaries  as 
here.  And  yet  I  could  not  believe  for  a  moment  that  the 
Saviour  delivered  this  sermon  on  this  ridge.  But  that  did  not 
disturb  me  in  the  least ;  the  main  thing  was  the  locality  and  the 
wonderful  surroundings.  This  was  the  best  commentary  for 
me  at  this  time.  I  sat  there  for  a  long  time  reading  and  this 
was  one  of  the  happiest  hours  of  my  Palestine  journey.  I  en¬ 
deavored  to  impress  this  wonderful  view  in  my  mind,  and  if  I 
close  my  eyes  now,  I  can  see  the  views  around  this  historic 
sea  and  its  surroundings. 

We  descended  from  the  mountain  or  Kurun  Hattin  (Hat- 
tin’s  Horn)  on  the  southeast  side,  and  went  down  the  hillsides 
to  Tiberias.  In  doing  so,  we  crossed  the  plain,  which  leans 
quite  a  good  deal  towards  the  east,  and  which  was  the  battlefield 
of  the  powerful  Saladin  and  the  army  of  the  Crusaders,  led  by 
the  weak  king  of  Jerusalem  in  1187.  This  battle  was  fought 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


here.  This  king,  Gny  de  Lusignan,  time  and  again  manifested 
that  he  was  unworthy  of  his  calling.  His  whole  army  was  al¬ 
most  annihilated.  The  Christian  army  fought  bravely,  but  had 
to  give  in  to  the  superior  power.  The  king  withdrew  to  the 
top  and  here  he  was  cut  down  by  Saladin  himself,  because  he 
had  been  on  the  point  of  killing  the  mother  of  Saladin  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  Jordan.  The  Knights,  who  partook  in 
this  battle,  were  sold  as  slaves,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  army 
was  killed  outright.  This  was  a  decisive  battle  and  ended  the 
power  of  the  Crusaders  in  Palestine.  The  report  was  that  the 
Christians  had  brought  the  cross  of  the  Saviour  along  in  the 
battle,  that  cross  which  the  Empress  Helena  is  supposed  to  have 
found  in  Jerusalem  326. 

On  this  leaning  plain  thousands  of  soldiers  found  their 
graves  and  still  their  bones  are  being  turned  up  by  the  fella¬ 
heen,  when  they  plow  their  fields  here.  A  little  to  the  east  of 
this  plain  we  saw  a  number  of  Beduin  tents.  Their  cattle  were 
grazing  around  the  tents,  but  they  themselves  kept  inside  so  as 
to  hide  themselves  from  the  rays  of  the  sun.  We  passed  right 
by  them,  but  they  did  us  no  harm.  We  went  back  and  forth  in 
a  zigzag  way  down  the  slopes  towards  Tiberias.  Soon  we  saw 
the  city  of  Tiberias.  Just  as  we  drew  near,  we  saw  a  wagon 
from  the  city,  drawn  by  two  horses.  It  was  rather  a  surprise 
to  see  this  vehicle  in  that  country.  We  reached  the  city  at  five 
o’clock  in  the  afternoon.  Here  we  put  up  at  the  hotel  Tiberias. 
I  am  at  the  shores  of  the  sea  of  Galilee  once  more,  and  I  rejoice 
to  be  here. 


[  344] 


Chapter  XVI 


AT  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE 


S  soon  as  we  had  a  little  rest,  we  went  down  to  the  shore 


J~\  in  the  neighborhood  of  a  round  tower  in  the  northeast¬ 
ern  part  of  the  city  to  bathe.  We  received  permission  from 
the  Scotch  missionary  to  use  his  bathing  place,  and  here  we 
spent  a  most  delightful  time.  I  rolled  around  in  the  warm 
water  of  Tiberias  like  a  wild  boy,  and  I  could  hardly  realize 
that  I  was  swimming  in  the  water  of  Gennesaret.  A  greater 
part  of  the  day  I  had  been  riding  under  the  burning  sun  of 
Syria,  it  was  a  most  excellent  recreation  to  cool  off  in  the  bil¬ 
lows  of  Tiberias. 

The  city  of  Tiberias  was  founded  in  the  year  14  of  our  era 
by  Herod  Antipas.  This  town  is  located  on  the  west  side  of  the 
sea,  and  at  an  equal  distance  from  each  end,  and  about  half  an 
hour’s  walk  north  of  Hamath  or  the  warm  springs.  The  Tet- 
rarch,  Herod  Antipas,  who  lived  at  Sephoris  at  first,  moved  to 
this  place,  which  he  called  Tiberias  in  honor  of  the  Emperor 
Tiberius.  Now  this  became  the  capital  city  but  the  Jews  did 
not  wish  to  move  into  this  place,  because  where  the  town  was 
located,  there  was  a  cemetery,  and  they  considered  it  to  be  at 
variance  with  the  Jewish  law  to  come  in  touch  with  dead  bodies 
and  graves.  Josephus  informs  us  that  King  Herod  built 
houses  with  his  own  money,  and  gave  the  people  lots  on  the 
condition  that  they  would  move  into  this  place.  A  great  many 
graves  were  moved  away,  and  in  this  way  they  prepared  a  place 
for  the  city.  From  this  information  it  becomes  evident  that 


[  345] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Tiberias  was  located  on  a  new  place,  and  not  on  an  old  site,  as 
some  have  contended.  In  the  New  Testament  this  place  is 
mentioned  three  times.  “Jesus  went  over  the  sea  of  Galilee, 
which  is  the  sea  of  Tiberias,  ”  and  on  the  other  side  of  this  sea, 
in  the  wilderness  towards  the  northeast  of  the  same,  he  fed 
five  thousand  men  (John  6:  1-13).  From  Tiberias  other  boats 
had  come  near  by  the  place,  where  they  did  eat  of  the  bread 
(John  6 :  23),  and  the  Apostle  John  relates  that  Christ  revealed 
Himself  after  His  resurrection  at  the  sea  of  Tiberias  (John  21 :  1). 

Josephus  informs  us  that  King  Herod  had  here  an  income 
of  200  talents  annually,  and  we  know  that  Herod’s  steward, 
Chuza,  the  husband  of  Johanna,  lived  at  Tiberias. 

This  king  lived  a  very  immoral  life.  Josephus  relates  that 
Herod  feared  the  great  influence  of  John,  and  for  this  reason  he 
put  him  in  prison  and  there  took  his  life  (Jos.  Hist.  18:  5:  2). 

When  Jesus  of  Nazareth  came  in  this  vicinity,  Herod  ob¬ 
served  with  anxiety  His  ,  growing  influence  among  the  people. 
Some  of  the  Pharisees  came  to  Jesus  and  asked  Him  to  depart 
from  this  part  of  Galilee,  because  Herod  planned  to  kill  Him. 
Then  Jesus  answered,  “Go  ye  and  tell  that  fox,  Behold  I  cast 
out  devils,  and  I  do  cures  today  and  tomorrow,  and  the  third 
day  I  shall  be  perfected”  (Luke  13:  32).  Herod  wished  to 
have  Jesus  leave  this  vicinity,  and  told  Him  this  through  the 
Pharisees,  but  Christ  perceived  his  cunningness  and  hence  He 
called  him  a  “fox”. 

Now  the  question  is  this,  was  John  the  Baptist  beheaded 
here  at  Tiberias  or  at  Machaerus?  From  the  story  in  the  gos¬ 
pel  it  seems  to  be  clear  that  this  event  took  place  at  the  last 
named  place,  because  there  it  was,  no  doubt,  that  Salome 
danced  before  the  company,  and  there  he  was  immediately  be¬ 
headed,  and  his  head  was  brought  forth  on  a  charger.  King 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Herod  Antipas  was,  no  doubt,  in  Machaerus  because  of  the 
preparations  for  the  war  that  had  been  declared.  According 
to  Josephus,  John  was  beheaded  at  Machaerus.  This  king, 
Herod  Antipas,  was  afterwards  banished  to  Lyons  in  Gaul  in 
the  year  39.  The  Emperor  Caligula  wished  to  show  mercy 
towards  Herodias  for  her  husband’s  sake,  but  she  answered 
that  she  wished  to  share  the  evil  as  well  as  the  good  day  with 
him.  She  followed  him  afterwards  to  Spain  where  she  died. 
King  Agrippa  and  the  other  governors  selected  Tiberias  as  the 
capital  of  Galilee  and  Perasa.  When  the  Romans  in  the  year 
66  began  the  war  against  the  Jews,  this  city  was  one  of  the 
largest  in  the  country.  The  people  in  Tiberias  joined  them¬ 
selves  to  Josephus,  but  they  soon  fell  away  from  him  and  joined 
the  Romans.  Josephus,  who  at  the  time  was  at  Tarichsea,  a 
city  at  the  southern  end  of  Tiberias,  gathered  all  the  boats  he 
could  find  in  the  sea — 230  in  all — and  went  to  Tiberias.  When 
the  inhabitants  saw  him,  they  laid  down  their  weapons  and 
begged  for  mercy.  In  this  town  Emperor  Vespasian  later 
killed  the  prisoners  of  war  that  had  been  shut  up  in  the  arena. 

Contrary  to  his  promise  and  assurance  he  killed  some  and 
sold  the  rest  of  the  37,000  prisoners  as  slaves.  Here  the  Syne- 
drium  met,  after  a  temporary  residence  in  Jabniel,  or  Jamnia, 
a  town  on  the  Mediterranean  in  Philistea.  From  this  place 
they  moved  to  Sephoris  in  Perasa  in  163  and  30  years  later  to 
Tiberias.  Here  a  very  prominent  Rabbinical  school,  which 
exercised  a  great  influence  in  the  Jewish  world,  was  estab¬ 
lished.  After  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  Tiberias  became 
the  centre  for  Judaism,  and  here  Jewish  science  flourished. 
Here  the  Talmud  saw  the  light. 

Here  in  Tiberias  the  Massoretic  punctuation  of  the  Old 
Testament  text  was  made  in  the  sixth  and  seventh  centuries. 
It  is  known  that  the  Hebrew  alphabet  does  not  have  any 


[  347  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


vowels,  but  only  consonants.  The  Massorets  placed  the  vowels 
under  the  consonants  in  the  text  and  added  the  accent.  These 
Rabbis  went  through  the  Hebrew  text  and  established  the 
pronounciation  according  to  the  tradition  among  the  Rabbis. 
This  is  the  pronounciation  that  is  used  by  the  Jews  and 
Christians  in  the  study  of  the  Hebrew  Bible.  At  the  time 
when  this  was  done  by  the  Rabbis,  the  Hebrew  language  had 
been  dead  for  centuries,  and  these  men  have  rendered  a  great 
service  to  the  world  in  this  respect. 

Christianity  came  to  Tiberias  rather  late.  This  happened 
during  the  time  of  Constantine  the  Great.  Here  a  bishopric 
was  established  and  its  Bishop  Johannes  attended  the  meetings 
at  Ephesus  in  449  and  at  Chalcedon  in  451.  The  king  of  Persia, 
Chosroes,  raptured  Tiberias  in  614,  and  then  Caliph  Omar  in 
637.  In  1837  the  whole  vicinity  was  severely  shaken  by  an 
earthquake  and  700  people  were  killed.  At  that  time  the  walls 
tumbled  over  and  only  certain  parts  of  them  are  now  standing. 
On  the  west  side  the  wall  is  best  preserved,  and  here  a  gate  is 
located.  We  rode  in  through  it.  The  Jews  consider  Tiberias 
as  one  of  their  Holy  Cities;  the  others  are  Safed,  Hebron,  and 
Jerusalem.  In  a  certain  sense  Tiberias  stands  first,  because 
the  Jews  think  that  Messiah,  according  to  the  prophecy  in 
Isaiah  9 :  1-2,  shall  reveal  himself  first  at  this  place.  By 
prayers  the  arrival  of  their  Messiah  can  be  hastened,  and  the 
prayers  in  Tiberias  are  especially  effective.  This  city  is  now 
called  Tubarje  and  has  about  5,000  inhabitants.  Here  is  a 
seat  for  a  Kaimakam.  Of  the  inhabitants  2,800  are  Jews,  1,000 
are  Mohammedans,  and  250  are  Christians.  Tiberias  is  located 
on  a  plain,  which  leans  towards  the  sea  and  is  surrounded  by 
hills.  Along  the  slope  to  the  west  of  the  town  we  saw  a  num¬ 
ber  of  graves.  The  houses  are  built  very  close  to  each  other 
and  the  streets  are  very  dirty.  The  town  is  located  614  feet 


[  348  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


below  the  level  of  the  Mediterranean  sea,  and  in  the  summer 
time  it  is  fearfully  hot  here.  Within  the  city  are  some  palm 
trees  and  this  gives  the  place  a  picturesque  appearance.  Be¬ 
cause  of  the  uncleanliness,  fleas  and  other  creeping  insects 
thrive  in  this  place,  and  it  is  supposed  that  the  king  of  the 
fleas  lives  in  Tiberias.  The  most  beautiful  buildings  in  the 
town  belong  to  the  Scotch  Mission.  Here  we  met  the  Mission¬ 
ary,  Dr.  Thorrence.  He  has  labored  faithfully  here  for  many 
years.  He  was  very  kind  and  helpful  in  many  ways,  and  told 
me  that  the  field  is  very  hard  and  downtrodden.  Near  our 
hotel,  Tiberias,  on  the  north  side,  is  a  fort.  Every  evening  the 
Mohammedans  fire  several  cannon  shots,  whereupon  the  muez¬ 
zin  in  the  minarets  exhort  the  Mohammedans  to  prayer.  Close 
to  the  hotel  is  a  Latin  cloister,  and  near  this  is  the  place  where 
jPeter  caught  such  an  abundance  of  fish  (John  21).  My  visit  at 
Tiberias  was  very  interesting,  and  I  felt  very  much  refreshed, 

j 

although  I  was  not  free  from  my  abu-rukeb. 

We  spent  several  days  near  the  sea  at  this  place.  It  is 
called  Gennesaret  or  the  sea  of  Galilee.  In  the  Old  Testament 
this  sea  is  called  Chinneret,  perhaps  for  the  reason  that  it  has 
the  form  of  a  harp,  which  in  Hebrew  is  called  chinnor.  Its 
length  from  north  to  south  is  13  miles,  and  its  width  from  east 
to  west  is  somewhat  less  than  7  miles.  It  is  about  150  feet 
deep,  and  the  water  is  very  clear.  On  the  east  side  the  moun¬ 
tains  rise  to  the  height  of  2,000  feet.  There  is  the  ancient 
Gaulanitis,  the  plateau  of  Bashan.  On  the  west  side  there  are 
also  mountains.  On  the  south  side  the  Semach  plain  extends 
along  the  Jordan  and  here  it  descends  into  the  Ghor  or  cavity 
as  the  Arabs  call  this  valley.  On  the  northwest  side  is  the 
plain  of  Gennesaret  and  towards  the  northeast  is  the  plain  of 
El-Ebtehah.  The  vicinity  is  very  romantic,  even  if  we  find  the 
sea,  at  first  sight,  surprisingly  small,  on  account  of  the  decep- 

[  349] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


tion  of  the  eye  regarding  distances.  Towards  the  north  Safed 
is  perched  on  a  mountain,  3,300  feet  above  the  sea,  and  in  the 
background  rises  the  giant  Hermon,  at  the  northernmost 
boundary  of  Galilee,  9,600  feet  high.  The  blue  surface  of  the 
sea,  the  shores  so  full  of  memories,  the  smiling  hills  all  around, 
whose  sides  echo  the  events  of  past  days,  the  blue  sky,  and  the 
mountains  in  the  distance — all  this  reminds  the  tourist  that  he 
is  at  the  shore  of  the  sea  of  Galilee.  And  yet  the  shores  are  so 
desolate.  Now  it  is  not  as  Plinius  said  in  his  day  concerning 
this  sea,  that  “it  is  surrounded  with  delightful  cities. ”  We 
must  not  forget  that  in  Galilee  there  were  not  less  than  204 
cities  or  towns  in  olden  times. 

If  we  now  leave  Tiberias,  following  the  shore  on  the  west 
side,  walking  south  we  come  within  half  an  hour  to  Hamath, 
or  the  Warm  springs.  They  are  situated  quite  near  the  shore, 
and  there  are  three  of  them.  The  first  of  them  is  the  Great 
bath  and  was  built  by  Ibrahim  Pasha  1833.  The  New  bath  was 
opened  in  1890,  and  near  by  is  the  Old  Southern  bath.  The 
water  is  sulphurous  and  is  good  for  rheumatism,  and  diseases 
of  the  skin.  On  the  west  side  of  the  sea  were  the  following 
cities :  Chorazin,  Capernaum,  Bethsaida,  Magdala,  Dalma- 
nutha,  Tiberias,  Hamath,  and  Tarichea.  Of  these  Tiberias, 
Tarichea,  and  Hamath  are  left.  The  last  mentioned  are  mis¬ 
erable  villages  with  only  a  few  inhabitants.  On  the  east  side 
of  the  sea  were  Bethsaida  (Julias),  Gamala,  Gerasa,  Hippos, 
and  Gadara.  Most  of  them  are  no  longer  in  existence.  Only 
ruins  are  left,  and  Beduins  now  feed  their  flocks  and  cattle, 
where  thousands  of  people  lived  in  the  time  of  our  Saviour. 

The  sea  afforded  of  old,  and  still  offers,  good  fishing.  We 
are  reminded  of  this  by  such  names  as  Bethsaida  (fishhouse), 
Tarichea  (fishcannery).  The  Jews  found  in  this  water  both 
clean  and  unclean  fishes.  The  parable,  which  the  Lord  uses  in 


[  350  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


Matthew  (13:  47-48),  points  to  this.  About  ten  or  twelve  cities 
were  located  at  the  shores  and  boats  were  neecssary  for  com¬ 
munication.  The  boats  were  used,  not  only  for  fishing,  but  also 
for  the  transportation  of  passengers  and  trade.  During  my 
first  evening  in  Tiberias  I  secured  a  boat  and  went  out  to  fish, 
but  at  that  time  we  received  nothing.  We  brought  along  two 
Arabs  to  row  and  we  went  out  quite  a  disance,  but  made  no  use 
of  the  sail.  The  billows  rolled  towards  us  from  the  northeast 
and  our  boat  was  thrown  about  on  the  waves.  The  further  we 
rowed  out,  the  larger  the  billows  arose,  and  I  wondered  how 
they  could  have  such  power,  especially  as  there  seemed  to  be 
but  very  little  wind.  On  this  little  sea  storms  arise  very 
quickly,  for  the  following  reason :  The  sea  is  imbeded  in  a  hol¬ 
low  between  the  mountains,  and  during  the  day  the  air  is 
warmed  in  this  cavity.  The  warm  air  rises  and  the  cold  cur¬ 
rent  from  the  mountains  takes  its  place,  hence  a  constant  wind 
which  stirs  up  the  water  a  great  deal,  especially  in  the  evening. 
This  I  had  occasion  to  observe  several  times.  Such  a  storm  is 
spoken  of  in  Matthew  8 :  24,  when  the  billows  went  over  the 
ship. 

It  was  a  real  pleasure  to  be  out  on  the  billows  of  Gen- 
nesaret.  I  felt  as  though  I  had  been  carried  to  another  world, 
when  I  reminded  myself  of  what  has  happened  on  and  around 
this  historic  sea.  Here  on  this  lake  the  Master  was  walking, 
and  on  these  shores  He  was  standing  or  sitting,  when  He 
taught  the  multitudes  that  unparalled  doctrine,  which  has  been 
carried  out  in  the  world  by  thousands  of  faithful  witnesses. 
No  wonder  I  felt  thankful  to  God,  who  had  permitted  me  to 
behold  those  very  hills  and  mountains  that  the  Master  looked 
upon  and  to  take  a  boat  ride  on  that  very  sea  upon  which  the 
Saviour's  feet  have  walked.  No  matter  in  what  direction  I 
might  look  I  was  certain  that  He  had  seen  all  this,  and  the 

[  351  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


echoes  of  his  words  shall  resound  between  these  mountains 
and  over  this  sea  until  time  is  no  more.  That  excursion  on  the 
sea  I  shall  never  forget.  Returning  to  the  hotel,  I  went  to  bed 
quite  early,  because  the  journey  from  Nazareth  to  Tiberias  had 
been  quite  strenuous.  In  the  evening  I  observed  how  a  group 
of  Jews  gathered  around  a  heap  of  stones  near  the  hotel.  They 
gather  together  every  evening  for  prayer. 

September  28th,  in  the  morning,  we  began  our  journey 
northward.  The  road  follows  the  shore,  and  in  some  places  it 
is  very  poor.  After  awhile  we  come  to  a  valley,  which  leads 
into  the  sea,  and  in  the  neighborhood  are  a  spring,  parts  of  an 
aqueduct,  and  some  ruins.  Here  was  once  the  city  Dalma- 
nutha.  This  place  is  mentioned  only  in  Mark  8 :  10.  The  Lord 
went  through  Decapolis,  and  on  the  other  side  of  the  sea  He  fed 
4,000  men.  Returning,  He  came  across  to  Dalmanutha. 
Matthew  tells  the  same  story,  but  he  uses  Magadan  instead  of 
Dalmanutha.  In  this  valley  shepherds  led  their  flocks  to  pas¬ 
ture,  and  now  and  then  we  met  Arabs,  either  riding  or  walking. 
On  the  other  side  of  Dalmanutha  the  road  leads  over  a  hill, 
which  projects  to  the  shore,  and  a  new  road  is  cut  out  here  in 
the  ridge.  In  about  one  and  a  half  hours  from  Tiberias  we 
came  to  Wady  Hamman  or  Pigeon  valley,  which  extends  to¬ 
wards  the  southwest  from  the  sea  to  Kurun  Hattin.  Along 
this  valley  the  road  went  up  towards  the  southwest  in  former 
days.  On  the  south  side  of  this  valley  there  are  some  very  high 
cliffs  with  a  great  many  caves  in  them.  In  these  the  Jews  have 
found  a  sure  refuge  in  times  of  war  and  persecution.  Even 
robbers  have  tried  to  escape  here  the  avenging  arm  of  the  law. 
At  certain  times  fierce  combats  have  taken  place  by  these  cliffs. 
It  is  claimed  that  six  hundred  persons  kept  themselves  here  at 
one  time.  It  was  not  an  easy  matter  to  fight  the  robbers  in 
these  holes  in  the  mountain,  where  they  were  very  well  pro- 


[  352] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


tected  and  fortified.  The  cliffs  are  more  than  1,000  feet  high, 
and  nearly  perpendicular,  and  are  now  called  Kulaet  Ibn  M’an, 
but  formerly  they  were  called  Arbela,  from  the  city  which  was 
situated  on  the  top.  The  ruins  are  now  called  Irbid.  The  his¬ 
torian  Josephus  writes  how  Herod  the  Great  fought  the  rob¬ 
bers,  who  during  his  time  had  taken  refuge  in  these  holes. 
This  happened  decades  before  Christ  appeared  in  Galilee.  The 
king  came  here  with  an  army.  He  let  down  his  men  to  the 
iioles  by  means  of  baskets  and  boxes.  By  means  of  iron  hooks, 
forks,  fire-brands,  and  other  means  he  endeavored  to  drive 
them  out  of  their  holes,  but  they  did  not  wish  to  surrender. 
Some  killed  themselves  rather  than  to  deliver  themselves  to  the 
soldiers  of  the  king.  Some  of  them  threw  themselves  down  the 
cliffs  and  thus  committed  suicide.  Before  the  eyes  of  the  king 
an  old  man  killed  his  wife  and  seven  children,  and  having 
thrown  them  down  the  cliff,  he  committed  suicide  by  jumping 
down  the  same  way.  Herod  abjured  him  to  spare  his  own  wife 
and  children,  but  he  rather  wished  to  see  them  die  before  his 
own  eyes,  than  to  deliver  them  to  Herod.  By  means  of  this 
drastic  measure  the  king  succeeded  in  subduing  the  robber- 
league  in  this  section. 

In  this  valley  the  Lord  wandered  many  a  time,  because  the 
road  passed  through  towards  Nazareth  and  by  Kurun  Hattin, 
the  same  way  that  we  had  come  the  day  before.  Among  those 
cliffs  the  pigeons  still  built  their  nests  and  play  as  they  have 
done  for  ages.  This  valley  has  its  sad  and  pleasant  memories 
as  well.  We  stood  a  long  time  and  looked  up  this  gorge  and 
thought  of  the  past.  Not  far  from  here  is  El-Mejdel,  the 
ancient  Magdala.  This  village  is  located  at  the  southern  end 
of  the  plain  Gennesaret  by  the  sea.  Here  Mary,  called  Magda¬ 
lene,  used  to  live.  Magdala  is  mentioned  only  in  Matthew  15 : 
39,  where  we  read  that  Jesus,  having  fed  the  four  thousand 

[  353  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


men,  came  into  the  coasts  of  Magdala.  Luke  informs  ns  that 
when  Jesus  went  about  from  city  to  city,  from  village  to  vil¬ 
lage,  proclaiming  the  gospel  in  his  kingdom,  He  was  ministered 
unto  by  certain  women,  whom  He  had  healed  of  evil  spirits  and 
infirmities,  and  one  of  these  was  Mary  Magdalene,  out  of  whom 
He  had  cast  seven  devils  (Mark  16 :  9).  She  had  received  much 
and  she  loved  much  for  this  very  reason.  This  woman  held  out 
at  the  crucifixion  until  all  was  finished.  She  was  there  when 
the  body  of  Jesus  was  taken  down  from  the  cross  and  buried. 
Early  in  the  morning  she  was  at  the  sepulcre,  and  she  was  the 
first  one  that  received  a  greeting  from  the  Master  that  He  lived. 
She  was  the  first  one  to  see  Him  after  His  resurrection.  Since 
the  fall  woman  has  borne  a  heavier  burden,  as  a  consequence  of 
sin,  than  man,  but  now  in  the  beginning  of  the  new  era  the  Re¬ 
deemer  came  to  her  with  the  greetings  of  peace  and  good  will. 
And  woman  has  also  given  proof  of  her  loyalty  to  the  cause  of 
Christ  and  willingly  devoted  herself  to  the  cause  of  that  institu¬ 
tion,  which  He  founded,  the  Christian  church.  On  the  whole 
she  serves  more  faithfully  in  the  church  than  man.  Here  in 
Magdala  we  are  reminded  of  these  things. 

This  village  is  not  of  much  importance  at  present.  There 
are  only  a  few  hovels  of  sunburnt  clay,  covered  with  straw,  and 
the  whole  looks  very  uninviting.  On  a  little  plain  to  the  south¬ 
west  of  this  place  the  Beduins  were  threshing.  A  little  girl 
carried  water  in  a  jar  from  the  sea  to  water  some  bushes  and 
flowers  near  a  little  hut.  In  this  village  with  all  its  dirt  and 
filth  there  is  no  Magdalene  any  more.  If  there  were  a  few  of 
them,  Magdala  would  look  quite  different. 

We  are  now  going  to  pass  over  the  plain  of  Gennesaret. 
This  is  three  miles  long,  somewhat  over  a  mile  wide,  and 
covered  with  thorns  and  thistles  together  with  shrubs  and 
smaller  trees.  Because  of  this  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  through, 

[  354] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


if  yon  turn  from  the  way.  This  plain  is  designated  by  the 
Arab  El-  Guweir,  or  the  Little  Ghor,  which  means  hallow.  This 
plain  is  very  fruitful  and  there  is  a  most  excellent  climate 
here.  There  are  several  brooks  that  run  over  this  plain  all  the 
year  round,  and  along  the  banks  of  these  brooks  oleander,  fig, 
and  other  trees  grow  in  abundance.  Josephus  describes  it 
thus,  “The  land  which  is  located  right  by  this  lake  has  the 
same  name  as  Gennesaret.  The  nature  of  this  plain  is  wonder¬ 
ful  as  well  as  beautful.  Its  soil  is  so  fruitful,  the  climate  so 
agreeable  and  suitable  that  the  inhabitants  plant  all  kinds 
of  trees;  the  walnut  especially,  which  requires  a  cooler 
air,  thrives  well  here.  There  are  also  palm  trees,  which 
grow  best  in  warm  regions.  Figs  and  olives  thrive 
here,  and  they  require  a  milder  climate.  This  country  does  not 
only  bring  forth  fruits,  such  as  grapes  and  figs  during 
ten  months  of  the  year,  but  other  kinds  of  fruits,  which  ripen 
at  the  same  time,  the  whole  year  round.  Besides  this  excellent 
climate  this  land  can  boast  of  a  rich  spring  called  Capernaum 
(Jos.  Bell.  3:  10:  8).” 

This  plain  is  spoken  of  by  Matthew,  who  relates,  that  after 
Jesus  had  returned  from  the  desert  place,  where  He  fed  five 
thousand  men  and  walked  upon  the  water,  He  came  together 
with  his  His  disciples  across  the  sea  and  landed  at  Gennesaret 
(Matt.  14:  34).  Mark  tells  us  that  they  came  to  the  land  of 
Gennesaret,  and  landed  there  (7:53).  Here  was  a  veritable 
paradise  formerly  as  far  as  the  vegetation  was  concerned,  but 
how  differently  this  plain  looks  now!  We  rode  along  a  path¬ 
way  by  the  shore.  In  the  sea  the  oxen  and  cows  of  the 
Beduins  frisked  about  and  had  a  good  time,  enjoying  them¬ 
selves  in  this  refreshing  water.  The  hills  rise  around  this  plain 
towards  the  west,  and  this  makes  it  look  all  the  more  romantic. 
It  took  just  an  hour  to  ride  across  this  plain  from  Magdala  to 

[355] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Chan  Minje,  on  a  hill  at  the  northern  end  of  the  plain.  At  the 
foot  of  a  ridge  there  are  some  ruins,  and  some  think  that  Chin- 
neret,  was  located  there.  This  city  was  found  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  tribe  of  Naphtali,  and  perhaps  the  sea  and 
the  plain  received  their  names  from  this  city.  But  Jerome  says 
that  Chinneret  has  been  identified  with  Tiberias,  and  perhaps 
that  was  the  tradition  at  that  time.  Chinneret  has  not  really 
been  found,  and  there  is  no  certainty  as  to  where  it  was  located. 

In  this  neighborhood  is  the  Ain  et-Tini,  i.  e.  Figwell.  Ac¬ 
cording  to  tradition  this  is  the  site  of  Bethsaida,  the  hometown 
of  Peter,  Andrew,  and  Philip.  The  Apostle  John  tells  us 
“That  Philip  was  of  Bethsaida,  the  city  of  Andrew  and  Peter” 
(John  1:  44,  12:  21).  Bethsaida  means  fish-house,  and  this 
would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  inhabitants  were  engaged  in 
fishing.  Now  the  question  is,  Are  there  one  or  two  places  hav¬ 
ing  this  name  ?  Some  authors  hold  that  there  is  only  one,  and 
that  is  Bethsaida  Julias,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Jordan.  Ac¬ 
cording  to  this  explanation  Jesus  and  the  disciples  came  across 
to  Bethsaida  from  the  northeast  side  of  the  sea  in  such  a  way 
that  they  followed  along  the  shore  and  thus  came  to  Caper¬ 
naum  and  Bethsaida  on  the  other  side.  But  if  we  more  closely 
investigate  the  testimony  of  the  Bible  and  the  geographic  sit¬ 
uation,  we  will  find  that  it  will  be  quite  necessary  to  accept  the 
idea  that  there  was  also  a  Bethsaida  on  the  other  or  western 
side  of  Gennesaret.  A  look  at  the  map  will  show  us  that  yon 
can  hardly  speak  of  going  across  the  sea,  when  you  at  the 
same  time  adhere  to  the  idea  that  Jesus  performed  the  miracle 
on  the  northeast  side  of  the  lake  in  the  neighborhood  of  Beth 
saida  Julias,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Jordan.  It  would  be  alto 
gether  improper  to  speak  of  going  across,  when  it  really  woulc 
be  following  the  shore.  But  if  we  give  proper  heed  to  th( 
wording  of  Mark,  the  thought  that  Bethsaida  was  located  oi 


[  356  ] 


* 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 

the  western  side  of  the  sea  will  have  weighty  support,  because 
we  find  that  Jesus,  having  performed  the  miracle  by  feeding 
the  5,000  men  with  five  loaves  and  two  fishes,  on  the  east  side  of 
the  sea  in  a  desert  place  (Mark  6 :  32),  constrained  His  disciples 
to  get  into  the  ship  and  go  to  the  other  side  over  against  Beth- 
saida,  while  He  sent  away  the  people  (Mark  6:  45).  Now  if 
Jesus  and  His  disciples  were  on  the  east  side  of  the  sea,  it  is 
improper  to  speak  of  a  place  which  is  on  the  same  side,  as  if  it 
were  on  the  other  side.  Furthermore,  we  read  that  when  they 
had  passed  away,  they  came  into  the  land  of  Gennesaret,  and 
drew  to  the  shore  (Mark  6 :  53 ;  Matt.  14:  35).  From  this  it 
becomes  clear  that  we  must  look  for  Bethsaida  in  the  neighbor¬ 
hood  of  the  land  of  Gennesaret,  and  this  makes  it  very  probable 
that  Bethsaida  was  located  near  Chan  Minje. 

Here  there  is  a  high  ridge  which  reaches  to  the  sea,  and 
on  this  is  a  heap  of  ruins  and  fallen  walls.  But  these  ruins  are, 
no  doubt,  from  a  later  date,  since  the  pieces  of  jars  and  other 
things  found  here  give  evidence  of  this.  This  hill  is  called 
Tell  el-Oreme,  and  when  this  is  crossed,  we  come  into  a  valley 
where  a  fountain  gives  an  abundance  of  water.  On  this  plain 
is  Et-Tabiga.  The  water  flows  to  the  sea  by  means  of  an  aque¬ 
duct.  It  is  lukewarm  and  salty,  and  of  sufficient  power  to 
drive  a  mill,  which  is  very  primitive  in  construction.  This 
spring,  whose  water  is  gathered  in  a  round  tank,  is  really  called 
Seven  springs  or  Heptapegon.  Perhaps  this  Ain  et-Tabiga  is 
identical  with  the  well  Capernaum  of  which  Josephus  speaks. 

At  the  western  end  of  the  plain  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  the 
Roman  church  has  built  a  “hospitz”  and  there  the  tourists  may 
have  lodging. 

This  locality  is  very  beautiful,  and  under  the  hand  of  man 
it  has  been  made  still  more  attractive  by  the  plantations 
around  the  cloister.  According  to  the  findings  of  some  authors 


[  357  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


this  is  the  place,  where  the  sermon  on  the  mount  was  delivered. 
According  to  Matthew  He  went  up  into  amountain  (Matt.  5:1), 
and  Luke  relates  that  He  came  down  and  stood  in  the  plain 
(Luke  6:  17).  Did  He  deliver  two  sermons  on  the  mount  or 
only  one?  There  seems  to  he  reason  to  believe  that  when  He 
gave  the  sermon  which  Matthew  tells  about,  He  was  on  a 
mountain,  and  when  He  preached  the  one  spoken  of  by  Luke, 
He  was  standing  on  the  plain.  These  circumstances  can  be 
harmonized  very  well  here  at  Bethsaida,  where  there  is  a  plain, 
and  right  near  by  is  a  ridge  or  a  mountain.  On  Tell  el-Oreme 
is  a  place  large  enough  for  a  great  multitude,  and  this  place  fits 
much  better  into  the  story  of  the  Evangelists  than  Kurun  Hat- 
tin,  so  far  away  from  Capernaum  and  the  sea.  The  distance 
from  Tell  el-Oreme  to  Capernaum  is  suitable  also.  Luke  says 
that  when  He  had  ended  all  His  sayings  in  the  audience  of  the 
people,  He  enters  into  Capernaum  (Luke  7:1).  We  do  not  be¬ 
lieve  that  the  Evangelist  would  have  used  such  language,  if 
Capernaum  had  not  been  so  near.  Kurun  Hattin,  the  Mount  of 
Beatitudes  of  the  Middle  Ages,  is  too  distant  from  Capernaum ; 
it  is  over  ten  miles  from  this  city.  I  believe  that  it  was  on  this 
ridge  that  the  wonderful  Teacher  delivered  that  unparalleled 
sermon.  At  the  shore  of  Gennesaret  he  delivered  many  a  ser¬ 
mon  and  he  did  not  lack  hearers,  who  came  from  the  cities  and 
the  villages  around  the  shores  of  this  sea.  Here  He  healed  and 
taught,  and  here  it  was  comparatively  easy  to  get  an  audience 
among  the  thousands  who  lived  here. 

When  we  came  down  from  the  mountain,  Tell  el-Oreme,  we 
intended  to  take  a  rest  near  Tabiga,  but  we  found  no  suitable 
place  where  we  could  have  a  desirable  shade,  and  hence  we  de¬ 
termined  to  continue  to  Tell  Hum.  This  place  is  about  half  an 
hour’s  distance  from  here  along  the  seashore.  Along  this  road 

[  358  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


the  Master  had  walked  many  a  time,  and  as  I  was  riding  along, 
I  thought  of  Him  who  had  traveled  in  the  self-same  place  tired 
and  weary.  I  rejoiced  that  I  had  a  chance  literally  to  follow  in 
His  footsteps. 

At  last  we  came  to  Tell  Hum.  These  ruins  are  surrounded 
by  a  stone  wall,  within  which  there  are  about  eight  or  ten  acres 
of  land.  We  went  to  the  uncovered  ruins  right  by  the  shore. 
Here  we  found  some  cars  on  rails.  They  have  used  them  in 
their  excavations.  Tell  Hum  was  buried  under  the  soil  and 
rubbish  for  centuries,  and  no  one  knew  where  to  find  it.  Now 
is  Tell  Hum  Capernaum?  The  Christian  and  Jewish  traditions 
say  so,  and  so,  too,  the  Mohammedans  tell  us.  Later  investiga¬ 
tions  also  testify  that  here  is  the  place  where  the  ancient  Caper¬ 
naum  was  located.  This  tract  of  land  now  belongs  to  the 
Franciscans,  who  have  built  a  kind  of  hotel  here,  where  the 
traveler  may  find  lodging.  This  is  at  the  northern  end  of  the 
ruins.  At  the  shore  they  have  planted  some  fir  trees  and  this 
makes  the  place  look  inviting  and  cozy,  but  the  slopes  all 
around  are  barren  and  desolate.  Capernaum  is  not  mentioned 
in  the  Old  Testament,  but  the  Evangelists  speak  about  it  sev¬ 
eral  times.  It  has  become  renowned  as  the  home-town  of 
Christ.  Matthew  applies  the  prophecy  in  Isaiah  9:  1  on  this 
city  and  surroundings.  When  Jesus  heard  that  John  had  been 
put  in  prison,  He  returned  to  Galilee;  and,  leaving  Nazareth, 
“He  came  and  dwelt  in  Capernaum,  which  is  upon  the  sea  coast, 
in  the  borders  of  Zabulon  and  Naphthalim ;  That  it  might  be 
fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  Esaias  the  prophet,  saying,  The 
land  of  Zabulon,  and  the  land  of  Nephthalim,  by  the  way  of  the 
sea,  beyond  Jordan,  Galilee  of  the  Gentiles;  The  people  which 
sat  in  darkness  saw  a  great  light ;  and  to  them  which  sat  in  the 
region  and  shadow  of  death  light  is  sprung  up”  (Matt.  4: 
12-16).  On  this  shore,  where  the  great  caravans  went  by,  and 


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where  multitudes  of  people  went  back  and  forth,  He  had  His 
home.  Peter  and  Andrew  also  had  their  homes  here,  and  it  was 
on  this  shore  that  He  called  them  to  the  great  task  to  spread 
His  teachings  throughout  the  Roman  world.  Matthew,  or  as 
he  is  also  called,  Levi,  was  called  as  he  was  siting  at  the  receipt 
of  customs  to  follow  the  Master.  Here  He  performed  many 
miracles;  here  He  healed  the  centurion’s  servant  (Matt.  8:5); 
and  the  nobleman’s  son  was  restored  to  health  through  a  word 
of  the  Lord,  who  at  that  time  was  in  Cana  (John  4 :  46) .  Here  He 
healed  the  mother  of  Simon’s  wife,  who  was  sick  of  a  fever  (Mark 
1:  30)  ;  here  He  healed  a  man  sick  of  palsy  (Matt.  9:  7),  and 
in  the  synagogue  here  in  Capernaum  He  drove  out  the  spirit 
of  an  unclean  devil  (Luke  4:  33).  Here  He  took  a  child  and 
placed  the  same  in  the  midst  of  them  and  gave  them  an  object 
lesson  in  humility.  Here  He  spoke  in  the  synagogue  and  the 
Apostle  John  has  given  us  this  sermon  (John  6).  The  city  of 
Capernaum  must  have  been  quite  large,  because  here  the  Roman 
government  had  a  garrison  of  troops  stationed.  Here  was  a 
custom  house.  The  centurion  had  high  regard  for  the  Jews 
and  had  built  a  synagogue  for  them  (Luke  7:5).  This  is  the 
synagogue,  which  they  have  discovered,  and  which  has  become 
a  binding  evidence  that  this  place  is  Capernaum.  For  a  long 
time  I  went  around  and  observed  this  ruin,  and  especially  did  I 
study  the  ruin  of  the  synagogue.  The  floor  is  well  preserved, 
and  perhaps  these  are  the  very  stones  upon  which  His  blessed 
feet  have  trod.  In  this  synagogue  He  spoke  many  a  time.  Here 
are  broken  pillars,  scattered  helter  skelter,  but  from  these  we 
draw  the  conclusion  that  this  must  have  been  a  magnificent 
building.  The  walls  are,  of  course,  torn  down,  but  you  can  see 
the  foundation  and  parts  of  the  stairs.  These  are  very  well  pre¬ 
served  and  there  are  two  of  them,  one  at  the  southwest  and  the 
other  at  the  southeast  corner.  As  I  was  walking  around  among 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


the  pillars  on  the  floor,  I  thought  of  Him  who  taught  here  and 
spoke  of  the  bread  of  life,  and  I  believe  that  this  is  the  very 
place.  As  I  was  moving  around  here,  I  observed  that  there  is  a 
passage  from  the  synagogue  to  the  wharf.  As  to  what  this  pas¬ 
sage  was  used  for  it  may  not  be  so  easy  to  tell,  but  some  believe 
that  it  served  as  a  passage  for  the  people  from  the  landing 
place  to  the  synagogue.  As  I  was  walking  around  here  the 
monk  was  watching  me,  as  though  he  had  falcon  eyes,  so  that  I 
should  not  take  any  pictures  of  the  ruins.  Josephus  tells  us 
that  he  was  wounded  in  the  war  and  was  taken  to  Capernaum 
and  then  to  Tarichea  (Vita  72).  But  he  did  not  tell  us  where 
the  city  was  located.  The  Bishop  Ephiphanius  at  Sal  amis  on 
the  island  of  Cyprus,  (403)  writes  that  a  church  was  erected  at 
Capernaum,  and  Antonius  (570)  says  that  “the  house  of  Peter 
had  been  changed  into  a  basilica.”  Later  investigations  have 
made  it  clear  that  around  the  walls  of  the  synagogue  are  other 
walls  surrounding  them.  Perhaps  these  outside  walls  are  the 
ruins  of  the  church,  spoken  of  by  Epiphanius  and  Antonius? 
The  inside  building  was  74  long  and  56  feet  wide.  When  Wil¬ 
son  made  investigations  among  these  ruins,  he  found  on  a  block 
of  stone  a  vessel  like  the  jar  of  manna.  This  may  remind  us  of 
His  sermon  in  the  synagogue,  in  which  He  mentions  manna,  and 
the  bread  which  cometh  down  from  heaven,  that  a  man  may  eat 
thereof  and  not  die  (John  6:  49-50). 

Here  it  was  that  the  greatest  of  men  went  about  and 
taught.  Outside  of  this  city  He  sat  in  a  boat  and  taught,  and 
the  echoes  of  His  teachings  have  been  carried  around  the  world 
and  are  read  in  palace  and  hovel.  Let  us,  briefly,  remind  our¬ 
selves  how  He  went  around  this  country,  while  He  had  His 
home  here  in  Capernaum.  Within  a  short  time  He  met  with 
opposition,  and  going  out  of  town,  He  taught  by  the  seaside 
(Mark  3:  7-12).  Then  He  went  up  into  a  mountain  and  spent 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


the  night  in  prayer,  and  then  chose  His  disciples.  Then  He  de¬ 
livered,  as  we  believe,  on  Tel  el-Oreme,  His  sermon  on  the  mount 
(Matt.  5:7).  From  Capernaum  He  made  quite  a  few  journeys 
First  of  all  He  healed  the  centurion’s  servant,  and  then  He  went 
to  Nain  and  resurrected  the  son  of  the  widow.  During  this 
journey  He  received  the  messengers  from  John  the  Baptist, 
became  a  guest  in  the  house  of  a  Pharisee,  in  which  a  woman, 
who  was  a  sinner,  washed  His  feet.  Returning,  he  healed  one 
possessed  by  an  evil  spirit,  and  the  pharisees  declared  by  rea¬ 
son  of  this  that  He  drove  out  the  evil  spirits  by  the  power  of 
the  devil.  Again  He  meets  with  opposition  in  the  city  and  goes 
out  to  preach  by  the  sea  side.  From  the  shore  He  crosses  the 
sea  and  goes  to  the  land  of  the  Gadarenes,  and  during  this 
journey  He  rebukes  the  storm  and  the  sea  becomes  quiet  (Mark 
4 :  35-41).  On  the  southeast  side  of  the  sea  he  cures  two  posses¬ 
sed  by  evil  spirits,  and  drives  the  spirits  into  the  swine. 

When  Jesus  returned  from  Gergesa  to  Capernaum,  He 
resurrected  the  daughter  of  Jarius  (Luke  8:  56).  His  next 
journey  He  made  to  Nazareth,  but  here  He  was  opposed  and  re¬ 
jected.  For  some  time  He  went  about  in  Galilee,  and  when  He 
returned  to  His  own  city,  He  was  informed  that  Herod  had  be¬ 
headed  John  the  Baptist.  Then  He  left  Capernaum  and  de¬ 
parted  to  a  place  near  Bethsaida  Julias,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Jordan  (Mark  6:  31-32).  Here  He  fed  five  thousand  men  with 
five  loaves  of  bread  and  two  fishes.  In  the  evening  He  sent 
away  the  disciples,  and  as  they  were  on  the  sea,  he  came  to 
them  going  on  the  water.  That  morning  they  landed  at  the 
plain  of  Gennesaret,  then  they  returned  to  Capernaum,  and 
here  He  gave  His  sermon  about  the  bread  of  life.  Another 
time  He  went  out  to  the  coast  at  Tyre  and  Sidon.  Here  He 
healed  the  Syrophenician  woman’s  daughter,  and  from  this 
place  He  returned  to  the  east  side  of  the  lake  and  came  through 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Decapolis,  to  the  southeast  of  Tiberias.  Here  He  performed  a 
miracle,  healing  a  man  who  was  deaf  and  dumb,  and  fed  four 
thousand  men  (Mark  7 :  31-37;  8:  1-9).  From  here  He  crossed 
Gennesaret  to  Dalmanutha,  and  went  from  there  to  Bethsaida, 
where  He  healed  a  blind  man  (Mark  8 :  22-26).  From  here  He 
travelled  along  the  valley  to  Caesarea  Philippi,  whence  He  re¬ 
turned  to  Capernaum. 

From  this  story  of  the  Evangelist  we  find  how  busy  He 
was  at  work  while  it  was  day.  These  shores  have  echoed  the 
blessed  words  from  His  lips.  What  city  has  had  such  a  chance 
to  find  the  way  of  life  as  Capernaum!  And  still  He  found  no 
repentance !  No  wonder  that  He  exclaimed  as  He  did,  remind¬ 
ing  Himself  of  all  the  spiritual  privileges  that  the  people  of 
Capernaum  enjoyed,”  And  thou  Capernaum,  which  art  exalted 
unto  heaven,  shalt  be  brought  down  to  hell :  for  if  the  mighty 
works,  which  have  been  done  in  thee,  had  been  done  in  Sodom, 
it  would  have  remained  until  this  day”  (Matt.  11:  23).  But 
the  other  cities  had  also  received  grace  for  grace,  and  had  not 
repented,  and  for  this  reason  he  exclaims  regarding  some  of 
them,  “Woe  unto  thee,  Chorazin!  woe  unto  thee  Bethsaida!  for 
if  the  mighty  works,  which  were  done  in  you,  had  been  in  Tyre 
and  Sidon,  they  would  have  repented  long  ago  in  sackcloth  and 
ashes”  (Matt.  11:  21).  These  cities  have  also  vanished  from 
the  face  of  the  earth ;  men  with  the  spade  in  the  hand  have  been 
searching  for  them,  and  in  these  last  days  they  have  become 
certain  as  to  where  they  have  been  located.  Not  more  than 
four  places  have  been  pointed  out  as  Capernaum.  One  is  Chan 
Minje,  near  Tell  el-Oreme,  the  other  one  is  Et-Tabiga,  a  little 
to  the  northeast  from  here,  and  which  place  they  now  consider 
to  be  Bethsaida,  a  third  one  is  Ain  Medauwerah,  at  the  western 
end  of  the  plain  of  Gennesaret,  and  the  fourth  place  is  Tell 
Hum  or  the  Hill  of  Hum.  After  careful  investigations  they 


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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


have  settled  down  on  this  place,  and  this  is  the  correct  one,  no 
doubt.  The  name,  which  is  composed  of  Cepher,  which  means 
village,  and  Nahum,  which  means  consolation,  thus  means  the 
“village  of  consolation,”  and  how  expressive  for  a  place,  where 
the  Son  of  God  has  been  teaching. 

The  time  allotted  to  me  for  Capernaum  was  altogether  too 
short,  but  we  must  go  on.  The  dragoman  blows  his  whistle 
and  that  means  “go  on!”  Like  a  dreamer  I  had  been  walking 
about  among  these  ruins,  and  I  could  hardly  conceive  that  this 
was  the  place,  where  our  Saviour  had  His  home  and  where 
He  was  teaching  and  performing  mircles! 


[  364  J 


Chapter  XVII 


IN  NORTHERN  GALILEE 

NOW  we  are  ready  to  go  northward.  But  there  is  another 
place  I  must  mention  before  leaving.  I  mean  Chorazin. 
According  to  Hierome  it  was  located  two  miles  from  Caper¬ 
naum  along  the  sea.  About  two  miles  from  Capernaum  some 
ruins  have  been  found  called  Kerase.  Is  this  Chorazin?  Some 
believe  it;  others  do  not.  Thompson  in  his,  “The  Land  and  the 
Book,”  Yol.  11,  page  8,  says,  “There  is  no  place  that  rivals 
Kerase.”  But  this  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  truth,  because 
Brocardus  (1283)  writes,  that  “Jordan  falls  into  the  sea  be¬ 
tween  Capernaum  and  Chorazin,  ’  ’  and  according  to  the  map  of 
Marino  Sanuto  (1308)  Chorazin  was  located  to  the  east  of  the 
sea  of  Gennesaret.  According  to  another  author,  Menkes, 
there  was  a  village  east  of  Jordan  by  the  name  Quarzin.  This 
location  seems  to  correspond  with  the  description  of  Wilibald, 
who  relates  that  on  his  journey  about  the  sea  from  Tiberias  He 
came  first  to  Magdala,  Capernaum,  Bethsaida,  and  then  to 
Chorazin.  It  is  difficult  to  determine  which  is  the  right  place. 
According  to  the  general  opinion  Kerase  is  the  right  one. 
Quite  recently  they  have  found  the  ruins  of  a  synagogue  with 
Corinthian  pillars,  and  a  road  leads  from  this  place  to  the 
ancient  caravan  highway,  which  passes  through  these  sections. 
The  road  from  Capernaum  leads  us  in  a  northwesterly  direc¬ 
tion  over  the  hills  and  by  a  Chan,  where  some  Arabs  are  tenting 
with  their  camels.  After  an  hour’s  journey  we  came,  at  about 
twelve  o’clock,  to  an  old  Chan,  Djub  Yusef,  i.  e.  the  Chan  at  the 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


well  of  Joseph.  Here  we  stopped  for  dinner,  but  it  was  very 
warm  and  no  water  was  to  be  had.  Near  this  Chan,  on  a  ridge, 
is  a  well,  and  the  Mohammedans  hold,  that  this  is  the  well  in 
which  Joseph  was  put  by  his  brothers.  Such  an  assertion  shows 
a  gross  deficiency  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  but  we 
must  remember  that  it  is  the  Mohammedans  that  make  such  an 
assertion.  Here  is  the  main  road  and  a  great  many  Arabs  are 
riding  back  and  forth.  Some  greeted  us  very  kindly  with  their 
“marhaba”,  a  word  of  greeting,  which  means  about  the  same 
as  “good  day.”  Along  a  stony  road  we  proceeded  in  the  hot 
sunshine,  and  came  in  about  an  hour  to  a  crossroad,  where  the 
road  to  the  left  leads  to  Safed.  The  road  to  the  right  is  the  one 
we  shall  follow.  Within  about  half  an  hour’s  ride  from  here  we 
would  come  to  Safed.  We  followed  the  road  along  hills  and  val¬ 
leys  with  the  Jewish  colony,  Roschpina  as  the  goal.  This  village 
is  also  called  Djaune.  This  colony  is  located  on  the  northeast  side 
of  the  Safed  mountains  and  to  the  southwest  from  the  waters 
of  Merom.  We  came  here  late  in  the  afternoon  and  resolved  to 
stay  here  till  the  next  day. 

From  this  place  there  is  a  most  excellent  view  towards  the 
sea  of  Galilee,  and  along  the  valley  of  Jordan  towards  the 
northeast  to  Lebanon.  Here  you  see  Hermon  as  a  real  giant 
at  the  northern  boundary  line  of  the  land.  In  Roschpina  we 
rode  up  along  a  very  steep  street  and  lodged  at  the  house  of  a 
Jew,  who  kept  a  kind  of  hotel.  The  buildings  of  the  colony, 
which  are  scattered  around  on  the  side  of  the  mountain,  are 
made  of  stone  and  are  white.  Towards  the  northeast  is  the 
plain,  where  the  Jews  have  their  vineyards  and  their  grain- 
fields.  In  this  colony  the  people  also  have  a  number  of  mul¬ 
berry  trees  and  cultivate  the  silkworm  and  raisins.  Our  Jewish 
host  was  very  kind  and  gave  us  a  very  good  room,  but  here 
we  had  no  peace  on  earth  because  of  flies  and  mosquitoes,  which 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 

kept  us  all  the  time  on  the  warpath.  Besides  these  there  were 
a  number  of  geese  and  chickens  in  the  neighborhood.  Now 
and  then  during  the  night  they  gave  us  some  of  their  melodies, 
and  we  had  to  listen,  because  they  were  so  near. 

The  29th  September  we  arose  early  in  the  morning,  and  at 
half  past  five  we  were  in  the  saddle,  ready  to  go  to  Caesarea 
Philippi.  My  poor  “mule  boy”  was  battling  with  his  fever 
and  could  not  come  along.  My  dragoman  was  my  only  com¬ 
panion.  We  rode  towards  the  northeast  down  the  slope,  until 
we  came  to  a  road  which  passes  along  the  west  side  of  the 
waters  of  Merom.  The  Arabs  call  this  lake  Bahrat  el-Hule.  It 
is  about  three  miles  long  and  two  wide.  This  is  the  water  of 
Merom,  of  which  we  read  in  the  book  of  Joshua  (11:  5-7). 
Here  the  kings  of  the  Canaanites  marshalled  their  armies 
against  the  children  of  Israel,  and  here  Joshua  came  suddenly 
upon  them.  This  happened  at  the  time,  when  Israel  conquered 
the  country,  and  divided  the  land  between  the  various  tribes. 
This  lake  is  only  from  ten  to  sixteen  feet  deep,  and  forms  a 
triangle,  whose  base  faces  the  north.  The  river  Jordan  flows 
in  at  the  north  end  and  runs  out  at  the  southern  end.  Along 
the  shores,  and  on  the  north  side  there  grows  a  certain  kind  of 
grass,  from  six  to  twelve  feet  high.  It  is  called  babir  or  papy¬ 
rus-reed  by  the  Arabs.  On  this  marsh  near  the  lake  are  vari¬ 
ous  kinds  of  wild  animals,  such  as  wild  boars,  panthers,  and 
buffaloes,  that  move  around  in  this  bog.  The  middle  of  the 
lake  is  free  from  weeds  and  here  the  Jews  from  Roschpina  and 
Jesud  Hamaala,  another  Jewish  colony,  located  on  the  west  side 
of  the  sea,  do  their  fishing.  We  had  a  chance  to  taste  this  fish 
from  the  water  of  Merom,  and  it  was  quite  good.  There  is  an 
abundance  of  fish  in  this  lake. 

The  valley  where  we  rode,  is  about  two  or  three  miles 
wide.  To  the  east  we  have  the  mountains  of  Gaulanitis  and  on 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


the  west  side  the  ridge  of  Naphtali.  These  mountains  are  not 
very  high,  but  fall  almost  perpendicularly  down  into  the  valley. 
North  of  the  lake  the  land  is  called  Erd  el-Hule  or  the  Land  of 
Hule.  Having  passed  by  the  lake,  we  came  to  more  elevated 
land.  Here,  along  the  fields,  the  Arabs  sat  with  their  guns  in 
their  garden  lodges.  These  lodges  are  made  of  poles  with  a 
straw  roof,  which  gives  protection  from  the  sun.  When  I  saw 
these  lodges,  I  thought  of  the  words  in  Isaiah,  “And  the  daugh¬ 
ter  of  Zion  is  left  as  a  cottage  in  a  vineyard,  as  a  lodge  in  a 
garden  of  cucumbers,  as  a  besieged  city”  (Is.  1:  8).  This  val¬ 
ley  is  occupied  by  the  Ghawarineh-Arabs,  or  as  the  word  im¬ 
plies,  the  Arabs  in  the  Ghor  or  “cavity.”  Besides  tilling  the 
soil,  they  tend  to  their  flocks,  hunt,  fish,  and  weave  carpets  of 
straw.  The  land  is  rich  and  gives  good  crops.  When  we 
had  gone  quite  a  distance  along  this  valley,  we  came  to  a  foun¬ 
tain,  called  Ain  el-Betala.  Further  north  there  is  a  still  larger 
spring,  called  Ain  el-Melaha,  which  gives  water  enough  to  turn 
a  mill.  Here  we  watered  our  horses  and  rested  awhile,  watch¬ 
ing  the  Arabs,  who  were  tending  to  their  herds  of  cattle,  and 
cultivating  cornfields.  We  rode  along  during  the  whole  fore¬ 
noon  until  we  came  to  the  foothills;  here  we  turned  a  little 
towards  the  northeast.  The  road  is  exceedingly  stony,  and 
streams  of  water  poured  forth  between  the  stones  along  the 
pathway.  Here  we  saw,  along  the  sides  of  Lebanon  and  Anti- 
lebanon,  many  villages  and  cities.  At  last  we  came  to  one  of 
the  tributaries  of  the  river  Jordan,  Hasbani.  This  river  we 
followed  for  quite  a  long  while.  The  country  is  barren  and 
desolate.  We  saw  very  few  human  dwellings  along  the  road. 
We  did  not  see  a  single  human  being  for  a  long  time,  and  the 
whole  vicinity  bore  the  stamp  of  desolation  itself.  Part  of  the 
time  we  followed  an  old  Roman  road,  which  must  have  been  a 
regular  highway  in  the  olden  time,  but  now  there  are  only 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


pieces  of  it  fit  for  use.  Here  is  the  old  Via  Maris  of  the  ancient 
world,  as  it  was  called  during  the  Middle  Ages.  We  followed 
Hasbani  for  quite  a  distance  and  came  at  last  to  an  old  bridge 
which  the  Romans  have  built.  This  bridge  has  the  peculiar 
name  of  Djisr  el  Rhadjar.  It  is  made  of  stone,  of  course,  and 
almost  ready  to  fall.  When  we  came  to  the  bridge  we  stepped 
down  from  the  horses,  and  led  them  across,  because  we  feared 
that  the  horses  might  not  dare  to  go  over  this  miserable  look¬ 
ing  structure.  We  came  over  safely  and  went  in  a  northeast¬ 
erly  direction  to  the  old  Dan.  The  river  Hasbani  follows  the 
valley  up  to  the  northern  end  of  the  land  of  Canaan,  to  the  vil¬ 
lage  Hasbeya.  A  smaller  branch  of  this  river,  a  tributary  of 
the  Jordan,  goes  up  to  Rasjeja,  but  it  is  dry  in  the  summer.  The 
(Well  of  Hasbani,  which  flows  all  the  year  round,  is  1630  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.  This  branch  of  the  river  is  about 
twelve  miles  long.  On  the  other  side  of  the  river  was  an 
abundance  of  stones  and  the  road  was  exceedingly  bad.  We 
rode  along  about  half  an  hour  and  came  to  Tell  el-Kahdi,  the 
ancient  Lais  or  Dan.  The  road  led  us  onward,  over  hills  and 
valleys,  until  we  came  to  the  river  El-Leddan,  which  flows  into 
Hasbani  river  a  little  further  down.  The  country  is  very 
suitable  for  pasture,  and  there  we  saw  many  Beduin  tents. 

When  we  came  to  the  river  El-Leddan,  the  middle  branch 
of  the  Jordan,  we  went  into  a  little  grove  by  the  river  where  the 
road  passes  and  there  we  sat  down  to  take  dinner.  We  are  now 
at  the  fountain  of  the  Jordan;  and  just  a  few  fathoms  from  the 
place,  where  we  sit  down  to  rest  and  have  dinner,  this  spring 
bubbles  up  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth.  It  is  claimed  that  this 
is  the  largest  spring  in  the  world.  We  found  a  very  good  place 
among  the  trees,  and  the  clearest  water  gushed  forth  under  the 
branches  of  these  trees.  Along  the  banks  of  the  river  trees  and 
bushes  of  various  kinds  are  growing.  The  river  gushes  forth 


[  369  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


at  the  foot  of  a  low  hill.  On  this  hill  lay  the  old  Dan,  that  is 
now  called  Khadi,  which  in  Arabic  means  “  judge.  ”  The 
Hebrew  word  also  means  “ judge.”  The  spring  pours  its 
water  into  a  pool,  and  from  there  it  flows  southward.  Here  is 
Dan,  located  at  the  northern  boundary  of  the  ancient  Pales* 
tine.  The  expression  from  “Dan  to  Bersheba”  means  from 
the  northernmost  end  of  the  land  to  the  southernmost.  To  this 
part  of  the  land  the  Danites  went  from  their  little  lot  north¬ 
west  of  Jerusalem  to  possess  the  land.  This  place  became 
sadly  renowned  for  the  idolatry  in  the  time  of  Jeroboam 
(I  Kings  12 :  92).  Here  he  put  up  an  idol  in  the  form  of  a  calf, 
so  that  the  children  of  Israel  might  not  need  to  go  up  to  Jeru¬ 
salem  to  worship.  Further  on  in  history  Dan  is  mentioned 
among  the  cities  which  Benhadad,  the  king  of  Syria,  sacked. 

Nature  is  very  grand  in  this  part  of  Palestine.  When  we 
came  to  the  river,  two  Circassians  were  resting  there.  They 
had  each  a  horse,  and  weapons  along  with  them.  They  were 
soldiers  in  the  service  of  the  government.  The  Circassians 
are  Mohammedans,  and  have  lived  in  Circassia  for  some  time, 
but  have  been  driven  out  of  their  country  and  a  colony  of  them 
live  in  the  vicinity  of  Amman,  on  the  other  side  of  the  dead 
sea.  While  they  were  resting  here,  they  went  through  their  re¬ 
ligious  exercises.  On  a  large  stone  on  the  bank  of  the  Jordan 
they  spread  their  mantles  and  said  their  prayers.  Before  a 
Mohammedan  says  his  prayers,  he  washes  his  hands  and  feet, 
and,  if  he  has  a  chance,  his  whole  body.  Having  said  their 
prayers,  and  rested  awhile  longer,  they  continued  their  jour¬ 
ney,  bidding  us  good  bye.  Here  we  enjoyed  a  refreshing  rest, 
and  the  water,  bubbling  up  from  the  earth,  seemed  to  cool  off 
the  air.  For  this  reason  we  enjoyed  ourselves  very  much  here. 

At  about  one  o’clock  we  went  on  and  came  to  Caesarea 
Philippi,  about  three  miles  from  here.  The  road  was  very  bad 

[  370  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


and  we  came  there  about  three  o’clock.  We  rode  into  the  vil¬ 
lage  on  the  dingy  looking  streets,  along  which  the  most  miser¬ 
able  looking  huts  were  erected.  At  last  we  came  to  the  lodg¬ 
ing  place,  which  was  located  in  the  middle  of  the  town.  There 
are  only  about  150  inhabitants  in  this  ragged  looking  village. 
We  stopped  over  night  at  the  house  of  a  man,  whose  name  was 
Abu  Samusa.  He  kept  a  kind  of  a  hotel.  But  I  declare  you 
have  never  seen  such  a  hotel  before.  We  stepped  down  from 
the  horses  in  front  of  a  yard,  which  was  a  kind  of  a  court  to 
the  house  itself.  At  the  east  end  of  this  court  was  the  dwelling 
place,  and  a  stair  led  up  into  the  upper  story.  In  front  of  this 
story  there  was  a  little  platform,  and  in  the  corner  there  was  a 
certain  roof,  giving  protection  from  the  rays  of  the  sun. 

Now  within  the  said  court  were  sheep,  asses,  horses,  geese, 
chickens  etc.  and  in  the  midst  of  these  animals  the  lady  of  the 
house  was  sitting  in  a  kind  of  crib,  baking  bread  on  a  piece  of 
board  which  was  placed  on  the  ground.  She  baked  the  bread 
in  an  oven  that  looked  like  a  churn,  dug  down  in  the  ground. 
At  the  bottom  of  this  oven  I  saw  some  coal.  She  smeared  her 
dough  along  the  side  of  this  churnlike  oven.  The  bread  was 
thin  and  the  cake  was  about  ten  inches  across.  Many  times 
they  have  to  use  manure  of  cows  to  heat  the  oven  with. 

When  we  came  into  the  upper  rooms  we  lay  down  on  the 
floor  to  rest.  There  was  no  chair,  no  bed,  no  table,  and  no  fur¬ 
niture  of  any  kind.  Carpets  were  spread  on  the  floor,  but  we 
had  reason  to  fear  the  insects,  and  we  did  not  rest  there  very 
long.  After  a  while  we  went  out  to  take  a  look  at  the  village, 
whose  inhabitants  are  all  Mohammedans,  and  who  live  in  the 
most  wretched  huts  and  in  utmost  poverty.  It  was  quite  differ¬ 
ent  in  the  olden  times.  Caesarea  has  a  history  full  of  vicissi¬ 
tudes.  The  early  name  of  this  place  was  Baal-Gad.  Here  this 
god  had  his  home.  He  was  the  god  of  fortune.  In  the  Old 


[371] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Testament  this  place  is  mentioned  only  once,  namely  in  the 
hook  of  Joshua  (Jos.  11:  17;  12:  7).  Joshua  captured  the 
country  even  to  Baal-Gad,  in  the  valley  of  Lebanon,  below 
mount  Hermon.  Some  have  supposed  that  by  Baal-Gad  is 
meant  Baalbek  in  Coelosyra,  but  when  we  read,  “at  the  foot  of 
Hermon,7’  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  where  it  was  located. 
While  Joshua  was  conquering  the  kings  of  Canaan,  subduing 
the  country,  he  pressed  forward  to  the  northern  boundary, 
overcoming  the  Giblites,  and  all  Lebanon,  toward  the  sunrising, 
from  Baal-Gad  under  mount  Hermon  unto  the  entering  into 
Hamath  (Jos.  13:  5).  From  this  it  becomes  clear  that  Baal- 
Gad  is  Caesarea  Philippi.  The  city  is  not  mentioned  in  the 
Scripture  from  the  time  of  Joshua  to  King  Herod,  and  then 
it  is  called  Baneas,  which  name  it  received  from  the  god  Pan, 
who  was  worshiped  in  a  hollow,  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain, 
where  the  Jordan  flows  out  of  the  mountain.  King  Herod 
built  a  temple  here  to  the  honor  of  Augustus.  Josephus  says  the 
following  about  this  temple:  “When  he  (Herod)  had  brought 
the  emperor  to  the  sea  and  returned  home,  he  built  in  his  honor 
a  very  beautiful  temple  of  the  most  white  stone  to  be  found  in 
the  land  Zenodorus,  near  the  place  called  Panium.  This  is  a 
very  beautiful  grotto  in  the  mountain,  under  which  there  is  a 
great  cavity  in  the  earth,  and  the  grotto  is  very  steep  and  full 
of  water.  Above  it  hangs  a  great  mountain,  and  under  the 
cavern  the  springs  of  the  river  Jordan  rise.  Herod  adorned 
the  place,  which  was  already  a  remarkable  one,  still  further,  by 
the  erection  of  this  temple,  which  he  dedicated  to  Caesar  (Jos. 
Hist.  15:  10:  3).  Philip,  the  son  of  Herod,  beautified  the 
city,  and  he  was  the  one  who  called  it  in  honor  of  the  emperor, 
Caesarea.  This  country  the  emperor  Claudius  gave  to  Agrippa 
II  in  the  year  52  A.  D.  When  Titus  had  captured  Jerusalem 
in  70,  he  went  to  Caesarea  by  the  sea,  and  then  to  Caesarea 


[  372] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Philippi,  where  he  remained  for  some  time.  Here  he  threw 
some  prisoners  of  war  to  wild  animals  and  others  he  compelled 
to  kill  each  other,  as  though  they  were  enemies  (Bell  Jud.  7:2: 
1).  The  old  name  of  the  place  has  been  kept,  but  when  the 
Arabs  came  to  power  they  called  it  Banias.  The  Arabs  cannot 
pronounced  the  letter  p,  and  cannot  say  Panias.  This  city  is 
spoken  of  only  once  in  the  New  Testament.  In  Matthew  16 : 
13  we  read  that  the  Lord  Jesus,  when  he  came  to  the  coasts  of 
Caesarea  Philippi,  asked  His  disciples,  saying  “Whom  do  men 
say  that  I,  the  Son  of  man,  am?  And  they  said,  Some  say  that 
thou  art  John  the  Baptist:  some  Elias;  and  others,  Jeremias,  or 
one  of  the  prophets.  He  saith  unto  them,  But  whom  say  ye 
that  I  am  ?  And  Simon  Peter  answered  and  said,  Thou  art  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God.”  Six  days  after  this  con¬ 
fession  Jesus  brought  His  disciples  up  into  a  high  mountain  and 
was  transfigured  before  them.  We  have  already  given  some 
reasons  why  we  believe  Hermon  to  be  the  Mount  of  Trans¬ 
figuration,  and  only  wish  to  add  that  when  we  came  to  the 
village  in  the  afternoon,  we  saw  one  of  the  tops  of  the  moun¬ 
tains  right  behind  the  ancient  city,  and  my  dragoman  cried  out, 
“On  yonder  top  our  Saviour  was  transfigured.” 

The  report  is  that  the  woman,  who  suffered  for  twelve 
years,  and  who  was  healed  by  the  Lord,  was  a  heathen  from 
this  city  (Matt.  9:  20-22).  Eusebius  writes,  “Outside  of  her 
house  you  see  on  a  high  pedestal  a  statue  made  of  bronze  of  a 
woman  in  a  praying  attitude,  and  a  little  above  this  there  is  a 
statue  of  a  man  with  a  white  mantle,  stretching  out  His  hand 
over  the  woman,  and  below,  at  the  very  pedestal,  grows  a  cer¬ 
tain  plant,  which  reaches  up  to  the  edge  of  the  cloak,  and  this 
plant  is  a  remedy  for  all  diseases.  This  represents  Christ  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  report.  This  monument  still  exists,  and  during 
a  visit  in  the  city,  I  have  seen  it  with  my  own  eyes  (Eusebius 

[  373] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Church  History).  Julian  the  Apostate  (361-363)  removed  this 
statue  and  replaced  it  by  his  own.  This  was  knocked  to  pieces 
by  lightning.  God  is  not  to  be  mocked.  The  Christians  put 
this  statue  of  the  Saviour  in  one  of  the  churches  in  the  city,  and 
Wilibald  (735)  saw  it  and  also  the  healing  herb.  Constantine 
established  a  bishopric  at  this  place  and  its  bishop  attended 
the  meeting  of  Nice  in  325  and  Chalcedon  in  451.  In  1188 
Saladin  captured  Caesarea  Philippi,  and  ever  since  that  time 
this  place  has  been  under  the  scepter  of  the  Mohammedans. 
The  village  built  upon  the  ruins  is  one  of  the  most  miserable 
you  can  imagine.  But  the  ruins  are  immense,  and  here  you 
find  pillars,  walls,  gates,  and  old  foundations ;  and  all  this  gives 
you  an  impression  of  what  Caesarea  Philippi  was  in  the  time  of 
its  glory.  The  village  is  built  on  a  ridge  between  two  valleys. 
Here  is  an  abundance  of  water,  and  as  a  consequence  there  is  an 
abundance  of  trees  and  bushes  in  and  around  this  place.  The 
location  is,  as  far  as  the  sights  are  concerned,  one  of  the 
grandest  you  can  see.  From  here  there  is  a  splendid  view  of 
Galilee  and  the  east  Jordanic  country.  My  dragoman  went 
with  me  and  we  started  out  to  look  over  the  ruins.  We  saw 
first  of  all  the  cavern  in  the  mountain,  at  the  foot  of  Hermon; 
and  here  it  is  still  opening  its  jaws,  but  now  it  is  not  so  large  as 
it  was  formerly.  We  saw  no  water  in  it,  but  below  the  opening 
there  is  a  stream  of  clear  water.  I  drank  from  this  fountain 
and  must  say  that  it  tasted  as  good  as  any  water  that  I  have 
ever  drank.  Around  the  opening  of  the  cavern  there  are  cer¬ 
tain  niches  cut  out  in  the  stone,  and  here  the  idols  were  placed. 
Below  these  niches  there  are  inscriptions  in  Greek,  but  these 
are  not  all  legible  at  present.  Below  one  of  them  we  read, 
‘‘This  goddess  is  dedicated  to  the  deity  Pan,  a  lover  of  the  god¬ 
dess  Echos,  of  the  son  of  the  priest  Victor  Lysimmaehos.” 
Greeks  who  came  here,  found  this  region  like  the  watered  val- 

[  374] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


leys  of  Arcadia,  and  so  they  dedicated  this  place  to  the  god 
Pan.  He  was  a  god  of  the  forest,  who  was  wandering  on  the 
green  fields,  by  the  murmuring  brooks,  and  during  the  cooling 
hours  of  the  evenings  he  would  play  beautiful  tones  on  his  flute. 
In  the  northern  part  of  the  place  there  are  the  ruins  of  the 
castle  of  the  city.  The  present  village  is  mostly  built  within 
the  walls  of  the  ancient  fortress,  and  the  old  city  is  located 
further  south.  At  the  place,  where  the  spring  gushes  forth, 
there  is  a  pile  of  stones,  and  they  are  the  ruins  of  the  ancient 
temple.  These  ruins  tell  us,  better  than  words  can,  how 
heathenism  will  fall  and  crumble. 

Above  the  village  is  the  fortress  Kalaat  Kubeibe  or  the 
fortress  of  Banias.  As  we  approached  the  village,  we  saw  this 
dark  structure  on  the  mountain  side.  It  is  located  about  1000 
feet  above  the  village,  and  about  an  hour’s  journey  from  there. 
This  is  the  strongest  fortress  of  Palestine.  It  is  built  of  very 
huge  stones  and  must  have  been  quite  a  protection  for  this  part 
of  the  country.  Right  by  this  fortress  the  road  leads  to 
Damascus.  Who  built  this,  when  it  was  done,  and  against 
what  enemies  will,  no  doubt,  for  all  time  to  come  be  open  ques¬ 
tions.  Immense  cisterns  are  hewn  out  in  the  mountains,  and  in 
these  the  rainwater  was  gathered.  Other  kinds  of  water  could 
not  be  obtained  at  this  altitude. 

Walking  about  for  some  time,  we  came  to  the  southern 
part  of  the  town  and  observed  the  stone  bridge  crossing  the 
Saare  valley.  At  the  northern  end  of  the  bridge  is  a  gate, 
and  this  looks  as  though  it  might  fall  any  time.  This  gate 
dates  from  the  Roman  times.  Returning  to  our  lodging  place, 
we  saw  some  stores,  and  I  confess  that  I  have  never  seen  such 
structures. 

Now  time  for  supper  is  drawing  near,  and  we  went  to  Abu 
Samusa’s  residence.  On  the  floor  the  hotelkeeper  placed  a 

[375] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


tray,  and  he  and  Mr.  Aboosh  helped  each  other  to  bring  forth 
the  necessities  of  life.  The  supper  consisted  of  bread,  which 
the  lady  of  the  house  had  baked  as  we  came  in,  a  watermelon, 
some  fish,  which  my  dragoman  had  brought  along  from  Rosch- 
pina,  and  thick,  sour  goat’s  milk.  We  sat  down  by  the  tray  on 
the  floor.  That  this  tray  was  not  clean  I  do  not  need  to  tell. 
I  had  seen  how  the  bread  was  prepared,  and  that  was  enough 
for  me.  I  was  hungry  and  tired.  As  fortune  would  have  it, 
we  still  had  some  of  the  bread  which  we  brought  along  from 
Roschpina.  That  the  sour  goat’s  milk  was  far  from  clean  I 
can  assure  you,  but  what  was  to  be  done?  I  looked  up  towards 
the  roof,  closed  my  eyes,  and  took  my  reason  captive,  and  so  I 
let  the  sour  goat’s  milk  go  down.  Necessity  has  no  law,  and 
this  you  will  experience  when  you  travel  among  the  Beduins. 

After  supper  we  lingered  for  some  time  before  we  went  to 
bed.  We  determined  to  lie  down  on  the  platform  outside  the 
door,  because  we  suspected  that  there  would  be  a  desperate 
warfare  with  the  fleas,  lice,  and  other  insects.  We  had  not 
rested  long  after  darkness  set  in,  before  a  number  of  people 
rushed  out,  and  the  reason  was  this,  that  robbers  had  come 
near  the  village,  and  stolen  the  corn,  which  the  inhabitants  had 
placed  there  in  heaps  outside  of  the  village.  After  some  time 
they  came  back,  but  not  before  we  had  heard  quite  a  few  shots. 
After  this  there  was  no  sleep.  In  a  few  minutes  there  was  a 
regular  concert  among  the  animals  just  below  our  platform; 
the  asses,  horses,  sheep,  chickens,  and  what  not  joined  in  most 
heartily  and  there  was  a  roaring  noise.  I  had  never  heard  such 
a  concert  before,  and  who  could  sleep  amidst  such  a  choir  of 
singers.  And  towards  midnight  came  Abu  Samusa  and  his 
wife,  and  had  their  midnight  meal.  You  may  wonder  why? 
The  reason  was  this.  We  were  there  in  the  month  called  Ra¬ 
madan  or  the  month  of  fasting,  and  no  faithful  Mohammedan 

[  376] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


will  eat  anything  this  month  during  the  daytime,  but  during 
the  night  they  may  eat  as  much  as  they  please,  and  if  I  can 
judge  anything  about  the  meal,  our  good  host  made  up  for  the 
loss  by  taking  a  good  square  meal.  The  mosquitoes,  fleas,  and 
other  creeping  things  did  all  they  could  to  keep  us  awake,  and 
there  was  practically  no  sleep  that  night.  We  had  a  regular 
picnic  during  that  night ! 

The  following  morning,  September  30th,  we  arose  at  four 
o’clock.  Our  hotel  keeper  had  gone  up  earlier  that  morning, 
milked  the  goat  and  boiled  the  milk.  This,  together  with  a 
piece  of  bread,  constituted  our  breakfast.  It  was  dark  on  the 
platform  where  we  sat,  and  there  was  no  light.  This  helped 
me  to  get  rid  of  my  scruples  regarding  the  nature  of  the  milk. 
At  five  o’clock  we  are  again  in  the  saddle,  riding  along  the 
streets  of  Caesarea  Philippi,  and  down  the  hilsides  towards  the 
waters  of  Merom.  My  dragoman  reminded  me  what  a  suitable 
place  this  was  for  robbers.  Here  they  could  steal  to  their 
heart’s  content,  and  get  away  without  being  caught.  We  were 
lucky,  though,  and  saw  no  one  who  wished  to  molest  us. 

We  rode  onwards  as  fast  as  we  could  down  the  hills  and 
over  the  valleys.  My  dragoman  was  somewhat  puzzled  about 
the  road,  but  in  a  few  minutes  we  observed  a  Beduin  riding 
ahead  of  us  in  the  tall  grass.  He  was  going  the  same  way  as 
we  and  he  knew  the  place  where  we  could  cross  the  Jordan 
river.  At  last  we  came  to  the  old  road  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Jordan,  at  the  base  of  the  mountains  of  Naphthali,  and  returned 
after  a  very  strenuous  trip,  during  which  our  horses  were  on 
the  point  of  giving  up,  to  Roschpina,  where  we  arrived  at  12 
o’clock  hungry  and  tired  and  almost  exhausted.  Here  we 
remained  till  the  following  day  to  recuperate.  To  be  in  the 
saddle  seven  hours  at  one  time  is  not  the  easiest  thing  in  the 
world.  Our  poor  Hammadi  was  still  sick,  and  my  dragoman 

[  377  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


telegraphed  to  Jerusalem  for  another  boy,  who  was  to  meet  us 
in  Tiberias. 

The  1st  of  October  we  were  out  early  in  the  morning,  and 
rode  towards  the  southwest  to  Safed :  The  road  is  very  poor 
and  so  steep,  that  we  could  not  ride,  but  had  to  lead  our  horses. 
Many  Arabs  went  along  in  our  caravan,  and  it  was  interesting 
to  see  how  the  asses  moved  along  the  steep  mountain  sides  with 
their  heavy  burdens.  Outside  of  Roschpina  we  noticed  how 
some  girls  carried  fresh  cow  manure  to  a  place  beyond  the  vil¬ 
lage.  There  they  plastered  it  on  a  stone  wall,  so  that  it  would 
dry;  later  this  was  used  for  fuel.  When  we  reached  the  top 
of  the  mountain,  we  had  a  splendid  view  of  the  whole  vicinity, 
and  especially  of  the  river  Jordan,  the  waters  of  Merom,  and 
the  mountains  of  Naphthali  in  the  north. 

Soon  we  came  to  Safed.  This  city  is  located  on  the  west¬ 
ern  edge  of  a  mountain  ridge,  and  here  we  have  a  most  excel¬ 
lent  view  in  all  directions.  Down  in  the  hollow  are  the  Sea  of 
Galilee,  Tabor,  and  Little  Hermon  towards  the  southwest,  and 
the  Jordan  valley  and  the  mountains  of  Moab  in  the  southeast. 
Safed,  which  has  15,000  inhabitants,  of  which  half  are  Jews  and 
part  of  the  rest  Christians,  is  located  higher  than  any  city  in 
Galilee.  Here  was  a  fortress,  which  was  destroyed  by  the 
earthquake  in  1837.  This  city  has  three  sections,  or  quarters, 
as  they  are  called, — Mohammedan,  Christian,  and  Jewish. 
Whether  this  town  was  located  here  in  the  time  of  the  Saviour, 
cannot  be  determined.  The  claim  is  that  Christ  had  in  mind 
Safed  when  He  said,  “A  city  built  upon  a  hill  cannot  be  hid,” 
but  He  might  have  had  in  mind  some  other  town  in  Galilee. 

This  is  one  of  the  holy  cities  of  the  Jews.  To  this  place 
they  have  come  from  Poland,  Galicia,  Rumania,  and  Russia. 
Here  these  poor  Jews  live  and  are,  to  a  great  extent,  supported 
by  Jews  in  foreign  countries.  Here  is  a  seat  for  a  Kaimakam, 


[  378] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


and  he  is  subordinate  to  the  Mutezarif  in  Acco.  Here  the 
Scotch  Presbyterians  have  a  mission  station,  and  a  Mission 
Society  in  London  is  carrying  on  mission  work  here.  The  cli¬ 
mate  is  very  good  on  this  mountain.  It  is  necessary  that  they 
have  a  good  climate  to  counteract  the  filth  which  is  found  in 
such  abundance  in  the  city,  along  the  streets  and  lanes.  I  had 
never  seen  a  dirtier  section  of  a  city  than  the  Jewish  quarter 
in  Safed.  If  they  kill  a  hen,  they  throw  the  feathers,  entrails, 
and  the  bones  on  the  streets,  and  you  can  imagine  how  the 
streets  look.  It  is  next  to  impossible  to  describe  them.  We 
went  to  the  market  place  and  observed  how  the  Mohammedans 
carry  on  their  trade.  We  bought  some  fruit,  but  I  could  not 
eat  it,  owing  to  the  filth. 

Safed  is  not  spoken  of  in  the  Bible,  nor  in  the  Apocrypha, 
but  Josephus  relates  something  about  it  in  his  “Wars”  (2  :20:6), 
where  he  calls  it  Sef.  During  the  Middle  Ages  this  place 
comes  into  prominence.  The  Mohammedans  and  Christians 
fought  some  bloody  battles  for  the  supremacy  of  this  place 
until  1266,  when  the  Mohammedans  captured  the  city  and  this 
section  of  the  country.  In  the  sixteenth  century  a  Jewish 
school  was  established  here  and  this  surpassed  the  school  at 
Tiberias.  To  this  place  many  Jews  fled,  when  the  Holy  City 
was  captured  and  destroyed,  and  here  they  were  permitted  to 
live  in  peace.  The  Jews  believe  that  their  Messiah  shall  reveal 
himself  first  of  all  at  the  Sea  of  Tiberias  and  rule  there  for  40 
year.  But  this  city  is  not  what  it  was  once.  The  Mohamme¬ 
dans  and  the  earthquakes  have  helped  to  despoil  it,  and  the 
prominent  school  of  the  Rabbis  is  no  more. 

About  half  an  hour’s  ride  to  the  west  of  Safed  there  is,  on 
the  eastern  slope  of  Djebel  Djermuk,  a  village  by  the  name  of 
Merom.  To  this  place  great  throngs  of  Jews  go  as  pilgrims 
during  the  Purim  festival.  In  the  neighborhood  of  this  village 

[  379  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


are  graves,  where  the  great  teachers  in  the  Jewish  world  are 
slumbering,  such  as  Hillel,  Schamma,  Simeon  ben  Zachai,  and 
others. 

We  did  not  stay  very  long  at  Safed,  although  this  is  in 
many  ways,  a  most  interesting  place.  To  this  city  there  are 
nothing  but  pathways.  How  strange  that  you  cannot  drive  a 
a  carriage  to  such  a  large  city.  Here  we  met  Professor 
Macalister.  He  and  his  guide  had  gone  over  the  mountains  of 
Naphthali  by  the  ancient  Cedesh,  which  is  located  on  these 
mountains,  a  little  to  the  northwest  from  the  waters  of  Merom. 
He  had  gone  directly  to  Safed  and  stopped  over  night  here. 
We  now  went  down  to  Tiberias  together. 

While  we  rode  through  the  city,  we  observed  certain  paint¬ 
ings  on  the  houses  in  the  form  of  armed  candlesticks;  and 
inquiring  what  this  meant,  I  was  informed,  that  they  paint  such 
pictures  on  the  walls  to  prevent  slander  and  backbiting.  An 
easy  thing  to  get  rid  of  in  such  a  way.  Here  we  saw  some 
beautiful  buildings,  such  as  the  English  and  Jewish  hospitals, 
etc. 

The  road  down  to  the  sea  of  Galilee  is  very  steep,  and  we 
had  to  walk  down  the  hillsides.  We  came  at  last  to  Chan 
Minje,  and  passed  across  the  plain  of  Gennesaret.  Here  we 
observed  how  the  Beduins  walk  about  with  their  guns,  and  I 
pity  the  one  who  has  to  travel  alone  over  this  plain.  While 
we  were  riding  along  the  road,  Prof.  Macalister  gave  his 
theory  as  to  why  he  believed  that  the  Israelites  had  been  able 
to  conquer  the  Canaanites  in  this  northern  section  of  Galilee  at 
Dan.  The  malaria,  caused  by  the  climate  in  this  region,  makes 
man  careless  and  less  inclined  to  fight.  Such  a  drowsy  set  of 
people  it  was  comparatively  easy  to  conquer. 

Passing  by  Magdala  and  Dalmanutha  we  saw  shepherds 
driving  their  flocks  to  the  sea  to  water  them.  The  day  was 


[  380  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


warm  and  the  way  along  the  shore  exceedingly  poor.  We  ar¬ 
rived  very  tired  at  Tiberias  at  one  o’clock  in  the  afternoon. 
Here  we  rested  for  some  time  after  this  very  tedious  journey. 
At  five  o  ’clock  we  went  out  with  the  dragoman  on  the  sea  and 
brought  along  two  men  to  row.  Although  the  boat  was  quite 
large,  it  was  tossed  as  a  ball  on  the  billows.  We  did  not  catch 
any  fish  either,  but  returned  empty  handed.  The  heat  was 
oppressive,  but  on  the  sea  we  did  not  feel  it  so  much.  After  a 
while  we  went  ashore  and  to  our  former  bathing  place  to  bathe ; 
then  we  returned  to  the  hotel.  The  evening  we  spent  in  medi¬ 
tation  on  the  great  events  that  have  taken  place  here. 

When  the  sun  had  set,  the  moon  arose  in  the  east  over  the 
hills  of  Bashan,  and  threw  a  weird  light  over  the  whole  vicinity. 
I  took  my  bedclothes  and  went  up  on  the  roof  to  sleep.  Here  it 
was  very  cool  and  the  view  was  the  best.  The  evening  was 
the  most  perfect  one  could  wish.  Perhaps  the  night  was  such, 
when  the  great  Teacher  went  out  among  the  mountains  on  the 
northeast  side  of  the  lake  to  pray.  We  recollect  that  He  often 
spent  the  night  in  prayer  to  His  Father.  I  felt  as  though  I  was 
surrounded  by  the  gracious  Spirit  of  my  Saviour,  and  with 
the  night  breezes  I  was  greeted  from  His  own  city  with  a 
“ peace  be  unto  you!”  It  was  certainly  beautiful  to  be  per¬ 
mitted  to  spend  the  night  by  the  shores  of  the  memorable  sea, 
so  rich  in  events  from  long  ago.  This  is  one  of  the  most  inter¬ 
esting  places  in  Palestine,  and  I  shall  never  forget  the  days  I 
spent  by  this  sea. 

The  next  day  my  dragoman  took  sick  with  a  high  fever 
and  the  physician  advised  him  not  to  continue  the  journey, 
before  he  became  better.  I  determined  to  stay  with  him.  The 
following  night  I  watched  him  all  night,  because  he  was  very 
weak.  My  plan  was  to  go  from  Tiberias  to  Djerash,  Amman, 
and  Petra,  but  the  sickness  of  my  dragoman  canceled  our  plan. 

[  381  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


The  third  of  October,  which  was  Sunday,  my  dragoman  was 
much  better,  and  at  12  :12  we  started  on  a  little  steamer  from 
Tiberias  to  Samach,  the  railroad  station  at  the  southern  end 
of  the  sea.  Now  we  passed  by  the  old  places,  which  we  have 
endeavored  to  describe,  and  at  six  o’clock  we  are  at  Haifa. 

No  matter  how  many  times  you  see  these  old  Biblical 
places,  you  see  them  again  with  a  great  deal  of  interest.  I 
found  it  very  difficult  to  depart  from  Gennesaret  and  its  sur¬ 
roundings.  Often  I  turned  back  to  impress  this  historic  body 
of  water  and  its  surroundings  upon  my  mind.  Farewell,  thou 
memorable  sea !  I  am  so  thankful  for  the  privilege  of  walking 
along  thy  border,  bathing  in  thy  billows,  and  meditating  among 
the  ruins  of  the  cities  on  thy  shores ! 

My  poor  dragoman  was  sick  all  the  way,  and  as  soon  as  we 
came  to  Haifa,  we  went  on  board  a  British  steamer,  Menzale, 
which  during  the  night  brought  us  to  Jaffa.  At  5.20  the  boat 
anchored  outside  of  the  coast.  The  landing  proved  to  he  very 
easy.  I  showed  them  my  tesquere  and  that  was  sufficient. 


f  382  ] 


Chapter  XVIII 


EXCURSIONS  TO  MIZPAH,  EMMAUS,  GIBEON,  AND 

RAMA 

HAVING  brought  my  dragoman  home  to  his  residence,  I 
spent  the  rest  of  the  day  at  the  American  colony,  at¬ 
tending  to  my  correspondence.  The  5th  of  October  I  planned 
to  visit  the  Biblical  places  to  the  northwest  from  Jerusalem, 
and  I  was  compelled  to  get  another  dragoman.  Mr.  Aboosh 
arranged  matters  so  that  a  Christian  Arab  now  became  my 
guide  to  these  places.  He  was  a  member  of  the  German  Lu¬ 
theran  church  in  Jerusalem,  and  his  name  was  Nicola  Aweis. 
He  took  the  place  of  my  dragoman  and  he  was  a  very  good  sub¬ 
stitute. 

At  seven  o’clock  in  the  morning  Mr.  Aweis  came  to  the 
American  colony  with  three  horses  and  a  boy  to  take  care  of 
them.  Our  first  goal  was  Nebi  Samwil.  We  rode  out  along 
the  valley  of  Jehosaphat  towards  the  northwest,  and  we  had 
gone  about  20  minutes  when  we  came  to  the  tombs  of  the 
Judges.  Here  we  dismounted  and  came  nearer  to  examine 
these  graves.  I  went  into  the  one  that  was  cut  out  in  the  best 
manner  and  found  that  the  first  chamber,  which  was  about 
20x20,  had  a  number  of  small  niches  along  the  walls.  Through 
smaller  openings  in  the  walls  you  can  enter  into  other  tombs  in 
the  hill,  and  underneath  the  floor  in  the  first  chamber  there  is  a 
room. 

Prom  these  tombs  we  rode  on  through  valleys  and  over 
hills.  To  the  west  of  Jerusalem  we  saw  Ain  Karin,  the  birth¬ 
place  of  John  the  Baptist.  Further  west  is  Kulonie.  Riding 

[  383] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


on  about  one  and  a  half  hours  we  were  right  opposite  Nebi 
Samwil.  This  time  we  did  not  go  up  to  the  top,  but  continued 
to  El-Kubeibe,  the  old  Emmaus.  Before  we  came  to  this  place 
we  rode  on  the  northeast  edge  of  a  very  deep  valley.  My  drag¬ 
oman  said  to  me,  “This  is  the  valley,  where  the  two  disciples 
were  walking  along,  when  Jesus  drew  nigh  and  spoke  to  them.” 
This  was  not  a  very  good  road  to  come  along.  Sometimes  it 
was  so  steep  that  we  had  to  lead  our  horses.  We  saw  two 
heights  northwest  from  Jerusalem,  where  the  Crusaders  had 
built  fortresses,  which  were  now  crumbled  to  pieces.  In  two 
and  a  half  hours  we  came  to  El-Kubeibe,  which  is  located  on 
an  incline  on  the  south  side  of  Ajalon’s  valley.  We  went  to  the 
cloister.  The  monks  received  us  very  kindly,  and  we  had  din¬ 
ner  with  them.  This  place,  which  consists  of  a  few  hundred 
inhabitants,  is  about  three  score  furlongs  distant  from  Jerusa¬ 
lem.  This  distance  corresponds  to  the  story  in  the  Bible.  Jose¬ 
phus  writes  that  there  was  a  certain  Emmaus  three  score  fur¬ 
longs  distant  from  Jerusalem,  and  the  Emperor  Titus  gave 
this  to  800  soldiers  (Bell.  Jud.  7:6:6).  We  are  not  informed 
where  this  place  was  located.  Now  there  is  a  place  called  ! 
Emmaus  at  the  western  end  of  the  valley  of  Ajalon,  below 
Bethhoron,  but  this  place  cannot  be  the  right  one,  because  that 
place  was  160  stadia  from  Jerusalem.  One  of  the  Crusaders, 
Fulcher  from  Chartres  (1125),  writes,  “the  following  morning 
the  army  of  the  Crusaders  broke  up  from  Nicopolis,  and  had 
Gibeon,  which  is  fifty  stadia  from  Jerusalem,  on  the  left  side, 
and  drew  nigh  the  city.”  Even  then  Emmaus  was  called 
Nicopolis.  All  this  evidence  points  to  El-Kubeibe. 

I  believe  that  this  is  the  right  place,  and  that  it  was  to  this 
village  the  disciples  went,  when  the  unknown  man  came  nigh 
and  told  them,  how  Christ  must  suffer  and  enter  into  His  glory. 
Surely  this  was  a  peculiar  stranger,  and  no  wonder  that  the 

[  384] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


disciples,  when  He  pretended  that  He  wished  to  go  further, 
constrained  Him  and  said,  “  Abide  with  ns  for  it  is  toward 
evening,  and  the  day  is  far  spent.  And  He  went  in  to  tarry 
with  them.  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  He  sat  at  meat  with  them, 
He  took  bread  and  blessed  it,  and  brake,  and  gave  to  them. 
And  their  eyes  were  opened,  and  they  knew  Him ;  and  He  van¬ 
ished  out  of  their  sight”  (Luke  24:  29-31).  I  read  this 
Scripture  lesson  here  in  Emmaus,  and  thought  of  those  two  dis¬ 
ciples.  The  same  Saviour  was  present  there  and  I  could  firmly 
believe  this  consoling  fact.  While  the  monks  were  preparing 
dinner,  we  went  out  and  observed  the  peculiar  herbs  and 
bushes  found  in  their  yard.  Then  a  monk  brought  us  into 
a  church,  which  looked  very  old.  There  were  quite  a  few 
monuments  in  this  church,  and  we  looked  them  over  very  care¬ 
fully.  At  ten  minutes  past  twelve  we  started  out  again,  and 
our  next  goal  was  Nebi  Samwil,  or  Mizpah.  At  half  past  one 
we  were  at  Mizpah.  Towards  the  west  we  saw  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean  sea  and  the  plain  of  Sharon,  in  the  northwest  we 
observed  Upper  and  Lower  Bethhoron,  which  are  located  on 
hills  close  by  a  deep  valley.  Near  by  in  the  valley  on  a  hill  is 
Gibeon,  and  near  this,  the  plain  on  which  Joshua  fought  the 
armies  of  the  Amorites.  Further  north  we  see  Ramallah,  Bee- 
roth,  and  towards  the  northeast  Ramah  and  Ophrah  on  their 
heights;  on  the  other  side  of  the  Jordan  we  ovserve  the  moun¬ 
tains  of  Moab  and  in  the  southeast,  Jerusalem,  and  beyond  this, 
Beth-Lehem.  This  place  is  100  feet  higher  than  Jerusalem  and 
here  are  immense  ruins  from  bygone  days.  The  Crusaders 
have  left  quite  a  few  monuments.  Mizpah,  which  means 
watchtower,  was  a  gathering  place  for  all  the  tribes  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Jordan,  and  is  spoken  of  together  with  Gibeon 
and  Ramah  (Jos.  18:26).  Upon  this  height  the  tribes 
gathered  together  from  Dan  to  Beersheba,  when  the  crime  was 

[  385] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


committed  at  Gibeah  in  Benjamin  (Jud.  19).  During  the 
course  of  time  this  was  a  place  where  prayer  was  offered 
(I  Macc.  3:46).  Here  in  Mizpah  Samuel  judged  Israel,  when  he 
had  arranged  for  a  meeting  with  the  people.  In  Mizpah, 
Bethel,  and  Gilgal  he  judged  Israel  annually.  Here  a  king  was 
chosen  for  Israel  (I  Sam.  10:  17-19).  King  Asa  (916-919)  for¬ 
tified  this  place,  having  gathered  stone  and  logs  from  Ramah. 
The  prophet  Hosea  is  rebuking  the  priests  of  Israel  and  the 
house  of  Judah,  because  they  have  become  a  snare  on  Mizpah, 
and  a  net  upon  Tabor  (Hos.  5:  1).  Prom  this  we  can  draw 
the  conclusion,  that  idolatry  was  practised  at  Mizpah  also. 
When  Nebuchadnezzar  captured  Jerusalem,  he  arranged  to 
have  a  governor  over  the  land  of  Judah,  and  Gedaliah,  who 
lived  here  at  Mizpah,  was  chosen.  He  was  killed  by  a  certain 
Ishmael  (II  Kings  25:  22-25).  From  this  grand  hill  we  looked 
over  the  vicinity  very  carefully,  and  then  descended  into  the 
valley,  where  Gibeon  is  located.  This  place  is  quite  near,  and 
is  now  called  El-Djib.  This  village  is  built  on  a  hill,  which 
is  surrounded  by  a  plain  or  valley,  and  towards  the  west  a 
larger  plain  extends  westwards  towards  the  valey  of  Ajalon. 
On  this  plain  Joshua  fought  in  the  memorable  combat  with  the 
Canaanites.  During  this  battle  Joshua  prayed,  “Sun,  stand 
thou  still  upon  Gibeon ;  and  thou,  moon,  in  the  valley  of  Ajalon. 
And  the  sun  stood  still,  and  the  moon  staid,  until  the  people 
had  avenged  themselves  upon  their  enemies”  (Jos.  10:  12-13). 

Gibeon  was  one  of  the  capital  cities  of  the  Hivites.  The 
Gibeonites  were  satisfied  to  be  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of 
water  for  the  congregation,  and  for  the  altar  of  the  Lord, 
even  unto  this  day,  in  the  place  which  he  should  choose  (Jos. 
9:  27).  Here  was  the  tabernacle  in  the  time  of  David  and 
Solomon,  while  the  ark  was  brought  from  Kirjath-Jearim  to 
Jerusalem  (I  Chr.  16:39;  21:29;  II  Chr.  1:3-4).  To  this  place 

[  386  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Solomon  came  and  sacrificed  1,000  burnt  offerings,  on  an  altar, 
located  on  a  height.  Here  in  Gibeon  he  had  a  dream,  in  which 
God  promised  him  wisdom,  which  he  asked  for,  and  besides 
this  he  received  riches  and  glory,  which  he  did  not  ask  for 
(I  Kings  3:4-15).  At  present  Gibeon  is  a  little  village  with  low 
houses,  made  of  clay  and  stone.  We  rode  by  this  place  on  the 
east  side,  and  continued  in  the  valley  towards  the  northeast, 
passing  hills  and  valleys,  and  in  the  afternoon  we  came  to 
Ramah,  which  is  located  about  fifteen  minutes  walk  to  the  east 
of  the  road  which  goes  from  Jerusalem  to  Bethel  and  Nablous. 

When  we  came  to  Ramah,  which  is  located  on  a  hill — 
Ramah  signifies  “height” — we  rode  through  this  dingy  village, 
consisting  of  only  a  few  houses.  Around  the  top  of  hill  are 
a  number  of  graves  and  caves  in  the  rocks,  and  the  whole  gives 
an  impression  that  this  must  have  been  quite  a  town  in  bygone 
days.  We  came  to  a  house  called  Samuel’s.  In  front  of  it  sat 
half-naked  Arabs,  and  poverty  and  misery  was  imprinted  upon 
their  whole  appearance. 

Ramah  is  also  called  Ramathaim  Sophim,  which  really 
means  the  “Double  Height  of  the  Suphites.”  Suph  was  one  of 
Samuel’s  forefathers,  and  came  from  Bethlehem  or  Ephratah. 

I  After  him  this  place  is  called  “Land  of  Zuph”  (I  Sam.  9:5). 
Here  Samuel  was  born,  and  here  he  established  a  prophet 
school.  Here  he  lived,  and  Ramah  is  therefore  called  “his  own 

city.” 

Opinions  differ  as  to  where  the  ancient  Ramah  is  to  be 
sought.  This  city  is  mentioned  not  less  than  fourteen  times, 
and  all  in  the  first  book  of  Samuel.  Some  have  contended  that 
Samuel’s  Ramah  is  Nebi  Samwil,  while  others  believe  that  it  is 
Er-Ram.  But  according  to  this  opinion,  it  is  rather  difficult  to 
explain  how  Samuel  could  come  from  Er-Ram  to  Gibeah  and  on 
that  road  pass  by  Rachel’s  tomb.  A  third  group  hold  that 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Ramallah  is  the  Ramah  of  Samuel.  Now  this  Ramah  is  located 
about  seven  miles  north  of  Saul’s  Gibeah.  A  fourth  group,  on 
the  other  hand,  think  that  Herodion  or  the  Mountain  of  the 
Franks  is  the  right  Ramah.  There  are  others  who  have  pointed 
to  other  places,  but  with  very  little  reason  or  historic  ground. 
According  to  the  very  best  authorities  we  can  explain  away  the 
difficulties,  if  we  consider  Er-Ram  for  Samuel’s  Ramah.  The 
view  from  this  place  is  excellent  in  every  direction,  and  it  was 
a  treat  to  be  permitted  to  behold  the  historic  surroundings. 
Standing  there  I  thought  of  the  godfearing  mother,  who  with 
her  son  went  up  to  Shiloh  to  give  him  to  the  Lord.  This  story 
tells  us  what  a  mother  in  the  fear  of  God  can  do,  when  she  has 
opened  her  heart  and  bcome  a  helpmate  in  the  hands  of  the 
Master. 

From  Ramah  we  continued  in  a  southeasterly  direction, 
and  came  near  Anata,  the  Anathoth  of  Jeremiah.  As  we  rode 
along,  we  came  a  little  distance  to  the  west  of  Anata,  and  had 
a  good  view  of  the  little  village  towards  the  northeast  of  Mount 
Scopus,  and  three  and  a  half  miles  from  the  Holy  City.  Here 
Jeremiah  lived  and  here  was  his  home  from  his  earliest  days 
(Jer.  1:1;  29:27).  From  here  we  rode  up  to  Mount  Scopus, 
and  went  back  into  the  city  along  the  western  road,  stopping 
at  the  Jaffa  gate,  where  the  “mule-boy”  took  care  of  the  horses. 


[  388] 


Chapter  XIX 

JOURNEYS  IN  PHILISTIA 

MY  dragoman  was  still  sick,  and  as  I  could  not  have  Mr. 

Aweis  with  me  on  my  intended  journeys,  because  he  was 
to  go  with  another  tourist,  I  engaged  another  man,  who  also 
was  to  act  as  my  guide  under  the  contract  with  Mr.  Aboosh. 
His  name  was  Mr.  S.  Johnson,  a  captain  who  had  been  in  America 
for  some  time,  and  was  a  Jew  by  birth.  The  sixth  of  October  at 
seven  o’clock  my  new  dragoman  came  to  the  American  colony 
with  three  horses  and  a  merry  little  boy  by  the  name  of  Ibrahim. 
This  boy  was  a  lively  chap,  and  although  he  was  not  quite  twelve 
years  old,  he  was  well  at  home  in  his  business.  At  this  time  we 
rode  through  the  new  town,  which  extends  towards  the  north¬ 
west  from  the  Jaffa  gate.  This  part  of  Jerusalem  has  grown  dur¬ 
ing  the  last  few  decades,  and  it  is  still  growing,  because  a  throng 
of  Jews  is  moving  in  from  various  parts  of  the  world.  Here, 
particularly,  you  will  notice  that  the  Jew  is  returning  to  the 
land  of  his  fathers.  Here  they  buy  lots  and  build  houses,  and 
the  development  has  been  very  rapid.  But  the  street,  which 
we  followed,  proved  to  be  very  dingy  looking.  Our  road  led 
us  westward  from  Jerusalem  over  the  hills,  and  in  half  an  hour 
we  arrived  at  Ain  Karin,  the  birthplace  of  John  the  Baptist, 
according  to  an  ancient  tradition.  The  place  is  rather  small, 
and  there  is  nothing  particularly  to  see,  except  a  church,  in  whose 
crypt  the  birth  of  the  forerunner  of  Christ  is  said  to  have  taken 
place.  In  the  vicinity  of  this  place  is  the  spring  called  Ain 
Karin,  or  the  Well  of  Mary.  This  place  is  visited  by  great 


[  389  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


throngs  of  Roman  and  Greek  Catholics,  who  as  pilgrims  come 
here  from  time  to  time. 

A  little  to  the  northwest  from  here  is  Knlonie.  In  the  ad¬ 
jacent  valley  David  is  said  to  have  fonght  the  giant  Goliath, 
but  this  tradition  is  rather  weak.  According  to  the  very  best 
authorities,  the  right  place  is  pointed  out  to  the  southwest  from 
J erusalem,  and  to  the  west  of  Bethlehem.  When  we  came  up  on 
the  ridge  to  the  west  of  Kulonie,  we  had  a  most  excellent  view 
of  the  vicinity.  Towards  the  west,  to  the  south  of  the  road,  is 
the  town  of  Kir  j  at  el-  Aneb,  supposed  to  be  the  old  Kirjath 
Jearim,  located  about  seven  miles  west  of  Jerusalem.  Kirjath 
Jearim,  which  means  the  “ wooded  city,”  was  one  of  the  cities 
of  the  Gibeonites,  situated  on  the  boundary  line  between  Judah 
and  Benjamin.  Six  hundred  of  the  relatives  of  the  Danites 
came  up  and  encamped  at  Kirjath  Jearim,  in  Judah,  and  hence 
this  place  was  called  the  “Camp  of  Dan.” 

The  children  of  Israel  brought  the  ark  of  the  covenant  from 
Beth-Shemesh,  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains  of  Judah,  to  this 
city,  and  here  it  remained,  with  the  exception  of  the  interval 
during  the  time  of  Saul,  when  it  was  at  Nob,  until  the  eighth 
year  of  the  reign  of  David,  when  he  brought  it  up  to  Jerusalem. 
Thus  the  ark  was  here  during  the  time  of  Samuel,  during  the 
greater  part  of  Saul’s  reign,  and  during  eight  years  of  the  reign 
of  David — in  all  70  years.  Here  on  the  hill,  to  the  west  of  the 
town,  in  the  house  of  Abinadab,  his  son  Eleazar  was  sanctified 
to  keep  the  ark  of  the  Lord  (I  Sam.  7:1).  Here  Israel  went 
around  on  these  hills,  waiting  for  the  Deliverer  and  their  libera¬ 
tion  from  the  hands  of  the  Philistines.  This  village  is  now  called 
Abu  Gosh,  from  the  robber  chief  who  had  his  headquarters  here 
at  the  eastern  end  of  Wady  Aly,  in  the  beginning  of  the  nine¬ 
teenth  century.  He  died  in  1818.  We  passed  by  his  sepulchre 
at  the  north  end  of  the  village.  Among  other  things  of  interest 


[  390  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


we  might  mention  a  church  ruin  dating  from  the  time  of  the 
Crusaders.  When  we  came  up  on  the  hill,  we  had  a  splendid 
view  of  the  plain  of  Philistia,  Sharon  and  the  Mediterranean 
Sea.  Here  we  met  a  caravan  of  camels,  loaded  with  grain  for 
Jerusalem  and  the  surrounding  towns.  The  Arabs  greeted  us 
in  such  a  friendly  way,  “Schalom  aleichem,”  or  “Peace  be  unto 
you !  ’  ’  Surely  this  was  a  very  kind  greeting  from  these  fella¬ 
heen  here  on  these  mountains,  and  I  reminded  myself  of  the 
men  who  in  the  early  days  of  our  era  went  about  and  said,  ‘  ‘  Peace 
be  unto  this  house!” 

Having  passed  by  the  caravan,  we  descended  into  a  valley, 
and  as  we  came  down  the  road,  we  saw  a  well.  Such  cisterns 
the  pious  Mohammedans  build  along  the  caravan  roads,  and  in 
this  way  they  wish  to  make  sure  of  Heaven.  Every  now  and 
then  these  cisterns  are  filled  with  water,  so  that  the  thirsty  and 
tired  wanderer  may  find  a  refreshing  drink,  while  he  is  hasten¬ 
ing  along  to  his  goal.  This  is  a  worthy  thought,  and  anyone  who 
has  been  in  the  Orient  knows  what  it  means  to  find  water  along 
the  way. 

We  came  at  last  to  the  end  of  the  wady.  Here  is  the  gate 
of  the  ‘ 4  valley.  ’  ’  At  this  end  of  the  wady  and  on  the  left  hand 
side  is  a  cafe  and  a  resting  place,  and  here  we  stopped  to  take 
dinner  and  rest  in  the  shadows.  We  are  now  in  that  part  of  the 
Holy  Land  called  Shefelah,  or  the  foothills.  This  place  was 
very  disagreeable,  and  for  this  reason  we  did  not  go  into  the 
house,  but  remained  outside  all  the  time.  Having  rested  a  little 
after  dinner,  we  continued,  and  Captain  Johnson  had  to  pay 
four  piasters  for  the  water  which  we  and  the  horses  had  used. 
Following  the  way,  we  soon  came  to  another  valley,  which  runs 
down  on  the  plain.  This  is  the  Ajalon  Valley.  Here  is  the 
Lower  Bethhoron.  A  little  farther  east  is  the  Upper  Bethhoron. 
Here  was  the  main  road  in  the  early  days,  and  here  the  ancient 

[  391  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


warriors  went  back  and  forth.  Solomon  built  Bethhoron  the 
upper,  and  Bethhoron  the  nether,  with  walls,  gates  and  bars 
(II  Chron.  8:5).  The  Jews  have  won  great  victories  in  this 
part  of  the  Land  of  Promise.  When  Joshua  broke  up  with  his 
warriors  from  Gilgal  he  marched  all  night  and  won  at  Gibeon 
a  glorious  victory  over  the  Canaanite  kings,  and  pursued  them 
on  the  way  to  Bethhoron  and  subdued  them.  Here  in  this 
vicinity  Judas  Maccabee  won  a  decisive  victory  over  the 
Syrian  general,  Nicanor,  who  fell  here,  and  somewhat  later  he 
won  a  victory  over  the  general  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  Seron, 
165  B.  C.  Here  Cestius  Gallus  suffered  a  humiliating  defeat 
in  the  beginning  of  the  Jewish  war,  66  A.  D.  This  war  closed 
with  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  captivity  of  the  Jews 
in  the  exile  that  is  lasting  yet.  The  ancient  towns  are  recognized 
in  the  two  villages,  the  Upper  and  the  Nether  Beith-Ur.  A  little 
way  farther  on  we  came  to  a  road  which  led  towards  the  right 
and  turned  behind  a  hill.  Here  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains  of 
Judah  is  the  old  Nicopolis.  This  village  is  often  spoken  of  in 
Josephus  and  in  I  Maccabees.  This  town  was  burned  by  the 
governor  of  Syria,  Varus,  4  A.  D.  We  are  not  able  to  determine 
whether  it  was  rebuilt  at  the  death  of  Christ  or  not.  Emperor 
Vespasian  built  a  fort  here,  so  as  to  be  able  to  guard  the  road 
to  Jerusalem.  This  fort  was  erected  in  69  A.  D,  and  from  this 
place  the  fifth  legion,  which  the  Emperor  Vespasian  at  the  com¬ 
mand  of  Titus  stationed  here,  went  up  to  Jerusalem  to  besiege 
this  city.  A  Christian  writer  of  history,  by  the  name  Julius 
Africanus,  rebuilt  this  place  and  called  it  Nicopolis,  223  A.  D. 
Here  is  a  fountain  whose  water  had  healing  qualities,  because 
Christ,  according  to  the  ancient  legend,  washed  His  feet  in  it 
after  His  wandering  Easter  day.  Julian  the  Apostate  stopped 
up  this  fountain. 


[  392  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


We  follow  the  road  and  see  towards  the  right  a  hill,  where 
there  are  some  ruins.  This  is  Latrum.  Here  the  Crusaders 
built  a  fort.  Here  was  the  home  of  the  penitent  robber  who  was 
crucified  with  the  Saviour.  Farther  north  on  the  same  hill  is  a 
convent  and  a  church,  and  the  cattle  of  the  monks  are  wandering 
around  the  hills  and  the  valleys.  To  this  place  we  follow  the 
Valley  of  Ajalon,  and  here  on  the  plain  it  ends. 

We  are  now  on  the  wide  plain  and  see  to  the  left  of  us 
quite  a  distance  ahead  Tell  el-Djasar,  on  a  hill.  Here  was  the 
ancient  Gezer,  of  which  we  have  spoken  before.  The  plain  of 
Sharon  lies  before  us,  extending  towards  the  northwest,  and 
towards  the  southwest  is  the  plain  of  Philistia.  Right  ahead  of 
us  is  Ramie,  whose  white  houses  glimmer  between  the  green 
leaves.  This  is  the  goal  for  the  day.  At  half  past  three  we  were 
there.  The  hotel  was  closed  and  the  hotelkeeper  was  away. 
There  are  very  few  tourists  at  this  time  of  the  year.  Quite 
near  it  was  a  Jewish  inn;  here  we  were  well  received,  and 
stopped  over  night,  but  the  place  was  not  very  clean. 
We  had  no  other  choice  and  did  the  best  we  could.  When  we 
had  rested  awhile,  we  went  out  to  see  the  bazaars,  and  found 
them  rather  insignificant  and  very  dirty. 

Here  at  Ramie  is  a  mosque  that  used  to  be  a  Christian 
church  during  the  time  of  the  Crusades.  When  we  returned  to 
our  lodging  house,  my  dragoman  bought  a  hen,  which  he  left 
to  the  lady  of  the  house  to  prepare  for  supper.  In  the  evening 
we  attended  a  festivity,  arranged  by  Jews  who  came  together 
at  the  inn.  They  were  dressed  in  rather  odd  suits  and  read 
responsively  in  their  Hebrew  Bibles  and  other  books.  When  I 
had  seen  the  Jewish  program  to  the  end  I  went  to  bed,  but  slept 
very  little  that  night  for  my  bed  was  not  very  good.  In  the 
morning  of  the  7th  of  October  at  seven  o’clock  we  were  ready 


[  393  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


to  depart,  and  the  first  object  of  the  journey  was  Ashdod,  which 
at  present  is  called  Ashdud. 

Riding  along  the  plain  for  some  time,  some  Arabs  joined 
us,  and  my  guide  was  very  pleased,  because  he  knew  that  the 
places  we  were  to  pass  were  by  no  means  safe.  We  might  be 
attacked  any  time.  The  prairie  here  in  Philistia  is  very  rolling, 
and  the  Beduin  robbers  would  have  a  safe  retreat  in  these 
valleys.  Our  Arab  companions  followed  us  for  some  time,  and 
then  they  turned  to  the  left.  Here  we  met  caravans  and  the 
camels  were  very  heavily  loaded  with  grain,  which  they  were 
bringing  to  the  larger  cities.  We  met  quite  a  few  women  who 
were  tattoed  very  much,  and  they  had  large  veils  which  did  not, 
however,  resemble  those  used  by  the  Turkish  women.  The 
women  here  in  Philistia  have  a  round,  hollow  piece  of  wood 
with  brass  rings  in  it  on  the  forehead,  and  these  rings  extend 
down  to  the  nose.  They  have  besides,  some  silver  coins  hanging 
from  the  ears,  and  bracelets  of  various  kinds  decorate  their 
arms.  The  garments  remind  us  very  much  of  those  used  in 
Egypt. 

At  a  little  distance  from  Ramie,  or  Arimathea,  is  a  Russian 
Jewish  colony.  Here  is  another  one  of  those  Jewish  colonies, 
which  have  been  established  of  late,  and  which  will,  no  doubt, 
mean  a  great  deal  for  the  future  of  Palestine.  This  colony  is  in 
a  very  good  condition.  They  take  good  care  of  their  plantations, 
and  here  they  can  bring  in  most  excellent  crops,  the  soil  being 
very  rich.  Here  we  saw  orange  groves,  vineyards  and  other 
plantations;  and  these  gave  us  a  very  good  impression.  Our 
road  brought  us  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  coast,  and  at  half  past 
ten  we  came  to  the  ancient  Jabniel,  or  Jamnia,  at  present  called 
Jabne.  This  village,  which  is  located  on  a  ridge  to  the  east  of 
the  road  that  passes  from  Jaffa  to  Gaza,  consists  of  clay  huts 
with  roofs  of  grass.  There  are  about  5,000  inhabitants  here 

[  394] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


and  they  live  in  poverty  and  misery.  Under  some  trees  that 
gave  a  good  shade  we  settled  down  and  had  our  dinner.  Near  by 
our  resting  place  there  was  a  well,  and  a  horse  was  working 
along  and  drawing  up  water  by  means  of  a  wheel.  Such  arrange¬ 
ments  we  saw  very  often  here  in  this  land  of  the  Philistines. 
This  city  was  really  a  boundary  town  between  Judah  and  Philis- 
tia,  and  is  mentioned  already  in  the  time  of  Uzziah.  Then  this 
place  belonged  to  Philistia,  but  Uzziah  went  forth  and  warred 
against  the  Philistines,  and  broke  down  the  walls  of  Gath,  and 
the  wall  of  Jabneh,  and  the  wall  of  Ashdod  (II  Chron.  26:6). 
In  this  connection  the  name  of  this  place  is  somewhat  changed. 
Josephus  says  that  Jamnia  was  located  within  the  tribe  of  Dan. 
Here  was  a  garrison  during  the  time  of  the  Maccabees,  and 
Georgias  as  the  highest  commander  won  a  complete  victory  over 
the  Jewish  troops,  who  lost  two  thousand  soldiers,  and  fled  to 
the  boundary  line  of  Judah  (Jos.  Hist.  12:8:6).  On  the  north 
side  of  the  town  runs  the  River  Rubin  in  the  Wady  Rubin.  This 
river  flows  into  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  a  little  to  the  northwest 
from  here,  and  here  was  a  harbor  which  was  called  Majuma. 
The  word  is  Coptic  and  means  harbor.  To  the  south  of  the  river 
by  the  sea  are  some  parts  of  this  harbor,  which  is  now  called 
Minet  Rubin.  During  the  time  of  the  Maccabees  this  town  of 
Jamnia  was  a  place  of  some  prominence.  When  Judas  Mac¬ 
cabeus  had  found  out  that  a  dastard  treachery  had  been  per¬ 
petrated  against  the  Jews  at  Jaffa — when  about  two  hundred 
persons  had  been  persuaded  to  board  a  ship  and  were  taken  out 
into  the  sea  and  drowned — he  went  down  to  the  harbor  of 
Jamnia  and  burnt  the  ships  and  the  houses  at  the  wharf.  The 
fire  was  so  great  that  it  was  seen  at  Jerusalem,  a  distance  of 
two  hundred  and  forty  stadia  (II  Macc.  12:9).  This  took  place 
164  B.  C.  We  read  in  the  Talmud  that  the  great  council  of  the 
Jews,  or  the  synedrium,  moved  to  Jamnia,  before  Titus  com- 

[  395  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


menced  to  besiege  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  and  in  this  way  these 
men  escaped  the  fate  of  the  people  of  this  doomed  place.  During 
the  time  of  Gamaliel  the  Younger  (116)  this  place,  Jamnia,  came 
into  great  prominence.  This  man  was  the  grandson  of  Gamaliel 
(52),  the  teacher  of  Saint  Paul,  and  is  bnried  here.  His  tomb 
was  shown  here  in  the  fourteenth  century.  But  the  Rabbinical 
School,  which  for  some  time  had  a  great  name,  became  dissolved 
by  the  Romans.  Very  early  Christianity  came  to  these  sections. 
At  the  meeting  of  Nice  a  bishop  from  this  town  was  present, 
and  even  in  the  days  of  the  Emperor  Justinian,  Jamnia  had  a 
bishopric.  This  place  has  had  the  same  fate  as  so  many  other 
towns  in  the  Turkish  Empire.  The  government  is  too  poor. 
Otherwise  there  are  resources  here  and  the  people  in  this  part 
of  the  Holy  Land  could  thrive  and  flourish.  These  prairies  are 
as  good  as  they  are  anywhere,  and  great  crops  could  be  harvested 
here.  The  harbor,  which  was  considered  to  be  one  of  the  best 
on  the  Syrian  coast,  is  at  present  in  a  very  poor  condition,  but 
could  be  rebuilt  and  an  extensive  shipping  to  foreign  lands 
could  be  established.  Here  at  Jamnia,  which  is  located  170  feet 
above  the  sea,  is  a  most  excellent  view  of  the  plain  of  Philistia, 
and  the  mountains  of  Judah  towards  the  east.  Directly  east  of 
here  is  the  agricultural  colony  Akir,  the  ancient  Ekron,  one  of 
the  mighty  cities  of  the  Canaanites. 

After  resting  a  little  while,  we  continued  our  journey  along 
the  main  road  over  this  naked  and  dry  plain,  and  at  three  o  ’clock 
we  came  to  Ashdod.  Here  and  there  along  this  lonely  and 
desolate  way  we  met  Arabs  who  rode  on  camels,  and  on  the  hills 
there  were  some  who  tended  their  flocks.  The  sun  was  very 
warm  and  it  was  no  wonder  that  this  plain  was  dry  and  scorched. 
To  me  it  was  a  question  as  to  how  the  poor  animals  could  get 
anything  to  maintain  their  life  on  these  barren  heaths.  Ashdod, 
which  was  called  Azotus  during  the  time  of  the  Greek  and 


[  396  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Roman  supremacy,  is  a  very  old  city,  and  was  one  of  the  five 
great  cities  of  the  Philistines.  It  is  located  on  a  ridge  near  a 
sandhill,  brought  hither  from  the  shore  by  the  windstorms.  The 
old  place  was  located  on  the  same  place,  but  deeper  down.  When 
the  Philistines  had  taken  the  ark  of  the  covenant  from  the 
Israelites  in  the  time  of  Samuel,  they  brought  it  from  Eben- 
Ezer  to  Ashdod,  and  placed  it  by  the  side  of  their  god,  Dagon, 
in  their  temple.  Dagon  was  the  idol  of  the  Philistines,  and  its 
front  part  looked  like  a  human  being,  but  the  hind  part  was  like 
a  fish.  In  the  morning  they  found  their  god  thrown  down  upon 
his  face  with  hands  and  head  cut  off.  The  hand  of  the  Lord  was 
heavy  upon  them  and  they  were  constrained  to  bring  back  the 
ark  to  the  land  of  Israel ;  and  so  they  brought  it  back  to  Beth- 
Shemesh,  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains  of  Judah.  But  of  this 
we  have  spoken  before.  The  worship  of  Dagon  continued  to  the 
time  of  the  Maccabees  (Macc.  10  :83;  11:4).  This  city,  which 
was  given  to  the  tribe  of  Judah,  was  not  taken  before  the  time 
of  David.  When  the  land  was  divided,  Philistia  became  an  inde¬ 
pendent  country. 

Sargon,  the  king  of  Assyria,  sent  Tartan  to  Ashdod,  and  he 
captured  it  (Is.  20:1).  The  city  remained  in  the  hands  of  the 
Assyrians  until  the  king  of  Egypt,  about  one  hundred  years 
later,  having  besieged  this  place  for  twenty-nine  years — the 
longest  siege  in  the  history  of  the  world — captured  it. 
After  the  captivity  Jewish  men  married  women  of  Ashdod. 
Nehemiah  contended  with  them  and  rebuked  them,  cursed  and 
smote  them,  plucked  off  their  hair,  and  made  them  swear  by  God, 
saying:  “I  shall  not  give  your  daughters  unto  their  sons,  nor 
take  their  daughters  unto  your  sons,  or  for  yourselves”  (Neh. 
13:23-25).  Ashdod  was  plundered  by  Judas  Maccabeus,  and 
was  burnt  by  his  brother  Jonathan.  Under  Pompey  it  became 
a  Roman  province,  and  was  rebuilt  by  Gabinius  (Jos.  Hist. 

[397] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


14:3:3).  Herod  willed  this  town  to  his  sister  Salome  (Jos.  Hist. 
17:8:1). 

The  deacon  Philip  during  the  persecution  in  Jerusalem 
came  hither  and  preached  in  all  the  cities  until  he  came  to 
Caesarea  (Acts  8:40).  Later  on  in  the  history  of  the  Christian 
church  there  was  a  bishopric  here  and  its  bishop  attended  sev¬ 
eral  synods  of  the  oecumenical  church.  We  came  here  quite 
early  in  the  afternoon,  and  as  I  did  not  feel  very  well,  I  deter¬ 
mined  to  remain  here  till  the  next  morning.  We  rode  through 
the  miserable  looking  streets,  until  we  came  to  the  southeastern 
part  of  the  town,  and  here  we  put  up  at  a  certain  hotel.  The 
hotelkeeper  was  not  at  home  just  then,  but  his  Arab  servant 
received  us  very  kindly,  and  killed  a  chicken  for  supper.  He 
gave  us  a  room  in  the  upper  story,  but  we  could  not  rest  because 
of  the  flour  mill  that  was  running  in  the  neighborhood.  The 
houses  are  all  only  one  story  high,  with  roofs  of  grass.  The 
town  gives  a  very  poor  impression,  has  2,000  inhabitants,  and 
nothing  particular  to  show  the  tourist.  Even  this  place  is  about 
three  miles  from  the  sea,  and  would  not  be  worth  while  visiting, 
if  it  were  not  for  its  ancient  history. 

In  the  morning,  October  8th,  I  arose  at  6  o’clock  and  did 
not  feel  well.  I  had  a  severe  headache,  but  there  was  no  physician 
and  consequently  nothing  else  to  do  but  to  go  ahead.  We  left 
Ashdod  at  seven  o’clock  in  the  morning,  and  as  we  rode  along 
the  awful  looking  streets,  we  saw  how  the  people  were  sleeping 
along  the  houses  in  all  kinds  of  rags.  The  plain  which  we  crossed 
on  our  way  to  Gaza  was  quite  rolling,  but  the  soil  appeared  to  be 
very  rich.  There  would  be  homes  for  thousands  of  people  if  this 
soil  were  taken  care  of.  I  understood  better  than  before  why 
the  Philistines  had  established  themselves  so  well  here,  and  why 
the  Israelites  fought  so  valiantly  to  get  possession  of  this  plain. 
While  we  are  riding  along  to  our  goal,  Gaza,  we  wish  to  recall 

[  398  ] 


i 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


something  about  Philistia.  It  is  bounded  on  the  west  by  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  the  east  by  the  majestic  mountains  of  Judah, 
on  the  north  by  Sharon,  and  on  the  south  by  the  boundary  of 
the  land  of  Canaan.  The  whole  of  this  level  plain  is  one  of  the 
most  fruitful  parts  of  the  land  of  Palestine. 

But  whence  did  the  Philistines  come?  They  possessed  the 
land  long  before  the  Israelites  came  into  Canaan.  In  regard  to 
this  question  opinions  thus  far  have  been  divided.  There  seems 
to  be  reason  for  the  belief  that  they  came  from  some  of  the 
islands  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  that  they  for  some  time 
lived  in  Lower  Egypt.  Later  on  they  moved  up  to  Philistia, 
drove  away  the  Canaanites  and  made  themselves  masters  of  the 
country  and  thus  settled  there.  Because  of  this  they  are  called 
Philistines,  which  means  simply  immigrants  They  must  have 
immigrated  before  the  time  of  Abraham,  because  “he  made  a 
covenant  at  Beer-Sheba  with  Abimelech  and  Phichol  the  chief 
captain  of  his  host,  and  they  returned  into  the  land  of  the 
Philistines.  And  Abraham  sojourned  in  the  Philistines’  land 
many  days”  (Gen.  21:  32,  34).  The  Philistines  were  Hamites, 
and  their  history  is  closely  connected  with  the  children  of  Israel. 
From  the  Bible  we  find  how  much  they  had  to  do  with  the  Israel¬ 
ites,  both  during  the  time  of  the  Judges  as  well  as  in  the  time 
of  the  Kings.  Very  bitter  feuds  were  fought,  and  it  seems  that 
the  fire  of  hatred  did  not  quench  until  after  the  Babylonian 
captivity.  When  the  Israelites  returned  from  the  captivity  they 
intermarried,  and  this  seems  to  prove  that  there  was  an  end  of 
the  long  enmity  between  them. 

As  I  was  meditating  on  these  things  we  came  to  a  well. 
Up  there  in  a  peculiarly  constructed  house  sat  an  Arab — perhaps 
we  had  better  call  him  a  Philistine — and  was  tramping  up  water 
from  a  well  by  means  of  a  water-wheel.  The  water  flowed  in  a 
large  reservoir.  We  led  our  horses  to  this  and  they  drank  with 


[  399  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


relish,  and  so  did  we.  We  continued  along  the  plain,  hut  we 
became  very  thirsty  again,  and  then  we  saw  in  the  distance  one 
of  those  houses  which  pious  Mohammedans  erect  to  merit  Heaven. 
This  well  was  by  the  wayside,  and  we  hurried  our  horses  on 
and  came  at  last  to  this  cistern,  but  it  proved  to  be  one  of  those 
broken  ‘  ‘  cisterns  which  give  no  water.  ’  ’  Thirsty  and  despondent 
we  rode  on  until  about  eleven  o’clock,  when  he  came  to  a  chan 
or  an  inn.  Here  we  lay  down  in  the  shadow  under  some  trees, 
and  took  dinner,  which  we  had  brought  along  from  Ashdod.  At 
one  o’clock  we  were  in  the  saddle  again,  and  rode  along  the 
great  plain.  The  nearer  we  come  to  Gaza,  the  nearer  the  road 
leads  us  to  the  sea,  and  extended  ridges  run  from  north  to  south 
for  some  miles.  At  about  five  miles  from  the  city  of  Gaza  I 
commenced  to  be  sick  and  feverish.  The  last  three  miles  seemed 
to  be  almost  endless,  and  it  looked  to  me  as  though  we  would 
never  reach  our  goal.  At  last  we  noticed  some  houses  between 
the  trees ;  in  a  few  minutes  some  minarets  stuck  up  their  points 
among  the  palms  and  trees,  and  in  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
we  were  at  the  largest  city  in  Philistia,  Gaza.  We  watered  our 
thirsty  horses  in  a  cistern  in  the  middle  of  the  city,  and  then 
we  went  to  the  southwestern  part  of  the  town  to  the  English 
mission  station.  How  happy  I  felt  that  I  had  the  privilege  to 
be  in  a  hospital  and  under  the  care  of  a  Christian  physician ! 
I  thanked  God  with  my  whole  heart  that  such  a  privilege  was 
my  lot. 

My  sickness  kept  me  in  bed,  and  here  I  was  compelled  to 
remain  for  five  days.  Most  of  the  time  I  was  sick  and  could  not 
be  up  and  about.  The  11th  of  October  I  arose  at  six  o’clock,  but 
that  good  and  kindhearted  Doctor  Sterling  forbade  me  to  go, 
and  I  did  wise  in  obeying  him,  as  I  was  yet  very  weak.  I  sent 
my  dragoman,  Captain  Johnson,  to  Jerusalem,  and  determined 
to  stay  here  at  the  hospital  for  some  time. 

[  400  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


The  13th  of  October  I  felt  somewhat  better,  and  went  out 
to  see  the  town.  Gaza,  which  means  ‘ ‘fortress,”  differs  from 
many  other  cities  in  this  country  in  this  respect,  that  it  has  a 
successive  history,  which  extends  back  at  least  1500  years  B.  C. 
This  place  is  spoken  of  in  the  Tell  el-Amara  tablets,  which  date 
from  the  fourteenth  century.  The  city  of  Gaza  is  about  three  miles 
from  the  sea,  and  had  a  very  good  harbor  formerly.  In  Genesis 
10:19  we  read  of  the  boundary  lines  of  the  Canaanites  from 
Sidon  to  Gaza.  Joshua  did  not  capture  this  place.  Judah  did 
so,  but  it  remained  for  a  short  time  in  the  possession  of  this 
tribe  (Jud.  3:3).  Samson  has  done  a  great  deal  to  make  this 
place  famous.  When  he  was  caught  in  the  network  of  Delilah, 
and  when  the  Philistines  got  hold  of  him  they  brought  him  to 
Gaza,  put  out  his  eyes  and  made  him  grind  in  the  mill  at  the 
prison. 

The  prophets  declared  severe  punishments  for  this  city. 
Jeremiah  exclaimed,  ‘‘Baldness  is  come  upon  Gaza”  (Jer.  47:5). 
“But  I  will  send  a  fire  on  the  wall  of  Gaza,  which  shall 
devour  the  palaces  thereof”  (Am.  1:  7).  These  prophecies 
have  been  literally  fulfilled.  Gaza  was  located  along  the  main 
road  between  Egypt  and  Syria,  and  great  armies  marched 
along  this  place.  Among  the  generals  we  may  mention  Alex¬ 
ander  the  Great,  who  in  the  year  332  marched  down  to  Egypt. 
He  besieged  this  city  for  the  space  of  five  months  and  at  last 
it  was  compelled  to  give  up.  In  the  New  Testament  Gaza  is 
mentioned  only  in  connection  with  the  story  of  the  deacon 
Philip  and  Ethiopean  eunuch.  The  angel  of  the  Lord  told 
Philip  to  go  from  Samaria  and  down  to  the  road  leading  from 
Jerusalem  to  Gaza.  It  is  rather  difficult  to  ascertain  which  one  it 
was,  as  there  are  two  roads  that  lead  down  from  Jerusalem 
to  Gaza.  One  of  these  roads  went  down  to  Ramie 


[401] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


and  then  to  Gaza ;  the  other  went  by  Bitir  and  then  down  over 
the  plain  of  Philista  to  Gaza. 

Christianity  came  very  early  to  this  place,  but  the  spirit  of 
Heathendom  ruled  supreme  for  a  long  time  after  that.  Gaza 
has  about  20,000  inhabitants.  There  are  no  walls  around  the 
city.  In  the  middle  of  the  town  on  a  high  ridge  is  a  mosque, 
whose  minaret  is  visible  far  and  wide  over  this  plain.  About 
2,000  Christians  are  found  here ;  the  rest  are  Mohammedans. 
The  moral  condition  among  the  people  is  very  poor  and  the 
standard  low.  Doctor  Sterling  informed  me  that  there  is  not  a 
single  day  in  the  year  in  which  he  is  not  called  upon  to  attend 
some  one  who  has  been  shot,  cut  with  a  knife,  or  struck  in  some 
way.  Such  is  the  spirit  of  heathenism. 

Gaza  is  one  of  the  southernmost  cities  in  Philistia.  From 
here  it  is  not  far  to  the  boundary  line.  My  plan  was  to  go  over 
the  desert  a  day’s  journey  to  Beer-Sheba,  but  I  was  altogether 
too  weak  to  do  this,  besides,  my  dragoman  could  not  secure 
horses  and  carriage,  and  I  was  too  weak  to  ride.  This  stretch 
of  the  country  is  not  very  safe  either.  One  can  easily  fall  into 
the  hands  of  the  robbers.  At  the  suggestion  of  the  Doctor  I 
determined  to  return  by  way  of  Jaffa  to  Jerusalem  in  a  car¬ 
riage.  During  my  stay  in  the  hospital  I  had  received  such 
good  care  and  kind  treatment,  that  I  found  it  very  difficult 
to  depart  from  my  good  Doctor.  Commending  myself  in  the 
hands  of  the  Lord,  I  went  away  at  six  o’clock  in  the  morning 
of  the  14th  of  October.  A  young  Christian  Arab,  Elias  Jashan, 
who  had  been  at  the  mission  station  during  the  summer,  re¬ 
turned  with  me,  and  he  took  good  care  of  me  during  the  return. 
The  day  was  somewhat  cool  and  a  fresh  wind  was  blowing  over 
the  plain.  We  made  good  time  because  our  Arab  coachman 
drove  like  Jehu.  About  halfway  between  Gaza  and  Ascalon  a 
road  turns  to  the  west  and  about  two  and  a  half  miles  from  this 


[  402  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


cross  road  is  the  Ancient  Ascalon,  a  city  by  the  sea.  In  the 
prophetical  books  this  town  is  spoken  of  very  often.  To  this 
place  Samson  came,  slew  thirty  men,  took  their  clothes,  and  gave 
them  to  those  who  had  guessed  his  riddle  correctly.  In  this 
city  there  was  formerly  a  temple,  dedicated  to  the  honor  of  the 
Syrian  Venus,  Decerto.  In  a  moment  of  temptation  she  was 
deceived,  then  she  threw  herself  down  from  a  cliff  in  the  city, 
and  was  changed  to  such  an  extent,  that  she  received  a  woman’s 
face  and  the  body  of  a  fish.  She  brought  forth  a  daughter, 
whom  she  laid  in  a  dove’s  nest  on  a  cliff.  The  doves  brought 
food  to  the  child  and  it  grew  up,  received  the  name  Semiramis, 
and  became  the  queen  of  Assyria.  King  Herod  was  born  in 
this  city.  It  is  now  desolate  and  no  one  dwells  there.  There 
are  quite  extensive  ruins  of  theaters,  temples  and  cloisters. 

At  half  past  nine  we  were  at  Ashdod,  and  here  we  rested 
for  some  time  on  the  outskirts  of  this  village  at  a  well.  At 
eleven  o’clock  we  drove  on  again  and  came  to  Jamnia,  and  hav¬ 
ing  gone  a  little  further  north  we  rested  again,  because  the 
horses  were  almost  ready  to  give  up.  Having  followed  the 
road  along  the  coast  for  some  time  we  came  to  Jaffa  at  half 
past  four.  Here  we  registered  at  Hotel  Hardick,  which  is  lo¬ 
cated  right  opposite  Thomas  Cook  &  Son.  This  is  a  very  good 
hotel,  and  besides  it  is  very  reasonable  as  to  prices.  A  Chris¬ 
tian  spirit  seems  to  be  prevailing  here.  The  names  of  the 
Apostles  were  written  on  the  doors,  and  to  me  this  was  very 
agreeable.  This  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  very  good  idea.  Just 
think  of  the  advantage  of  being  permitted  to  travel  among 
Christian  people  and  to  come  under  Christian  influence ! 
There  is  a  marked  difference  between  Heathenism  and 
Christianity ;  and  if  some  one  is  inclined  to  deny  this,  let  such 
a  one  travel  among  heathens  and  he  will  see  it  clearly. 

[  403  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


The  following  morning  I  was  at  the  station  with  my 
student  Jashan  and  bound  for  Jerusalem,  where  he  was  to  attend 
the  College.  Again  I  had  the  privilege  to  see  the  old  Biblical 
places  and  even  this  time  I  observed  them  very  carefully.  It 
is  very  strange  with  these  holy  places.  There  is  a  certain 
power  of  attraction  in  them.  At  noon  my  train  pulls  in  at  the 
station  in  Jerusalem,  and  within  half  an  hour  I  am  at  the 
American  colony  in  my  room.  I  thanked  God,  who  had  given 
me  strength  so  that  I  could  return.  My  journey  in  Philistia 
was  finished.  My  friends  in  the  colony  were  concerned  about 
me,  and  had  intended  to  send  a  man  to  help  me  return  to  the 
Holy  City.  Here  in  the  colony  I  received  excellent  care,  and  in 
a  few  days  I  felt  better.  During  this  journey  I  had  found  out 
that  it  is  so  very  good  to  meet  with  Christian  people  who  can 
extend  a  helping  hand  in  the  hour  of  need.  What  would  this 
world  be  anyhow,  without  the  love  of  Christ,  poured  forth  in 
the  hearts  of  men !  It  is  no  pleasure  to  be  sick  anywhere ;  and 
especially  when  you  are  far  away  from  hearth  and  home,  you 
feel  it  all  the  more. 


[404] 


Chapter  XX 


TO  BETHLEHEM  AND  HEBRON 

WHEN  I  returned  from  my  journey  in  Philistia,  I  was  in¬ 
formed  that  a  certain  Dr.  J.  E.  Ploreen  from  America 
wished  to  meet  me.  I  sent  word  to  him  and  asked  him  to  come 
to  my  room,  which  he  did ;  and  behold,  there  stands  Dr.  Floreen 
from  Salina,  Kansas.  I  was  very  much  surprised  tQ  find  him 
here,  especially  as  I  had  not  heard  that  he  intended  to  travel  in 
the  Holy  Land.  We  were  well  taken  care  of  by  the  good 
people  in  the  colony,  and  had  an  enjoyable  time  together  in 
their  reception  room.  We  determined  to  go  together  out  in 
the  city,  which  we  did.  In  the  forenoon  the  following  day, 
which  was  Sunday,  October  17th,  I  attended  the  services  in  the 
German  Lutheran  church.  The  pastor  delivered  a  plain  and 
edifying  sermon  on  the  text  for  the  day.  Quite  a  few  were 
present  at  the  service.  This  was  my  last  Sunday  in  Jerusalem 
and  also  in  the  Holy  Land  and  I  felt  rather  lonely  at  this 
thought.  From  the  church  I  went  to  the  church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  and  from  there  to  the  American  consulate,  whence  I 
had  a  ride  to  the  colony.  I  was  very  weak  as  yet  and  could  not 
stand  much  walking.  Having  rested  for  some  time,  Dr.  Flor¬ 
een,  Mr.  H.  L.  Larson,  and  I  went  out  to  see  some  of  the  holy 
places  in  the  city.  We  went  to  the  Damascus  gate  and  by  the 
“Gordon  Golgotha,”  which  we  observed  very  carefully.  We 
have  already  noted  that  this  place  does  not  have  any  evidence 
in  its  favor.  Then  we  went  through  the  Damascus  gate,  fol¬ 
lowing  the  street  that  leads  down  the  Tyropaeon  valley,  and 

1  .  [  405  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


when  we  came  to  the  Via  Dolorosa,  we  turned  to  the  left  and 
walked  along  this  street  towards  the  Stephen  gate.  We  must 
now  go  through  the  Mohammedan  quarter,  and  came  upon  one  of 
the  four  hills  on  which  the  city  is  built, — namely  Bethzeta. 
Going  down  the  street  for  some  time,  we  came  to  a  chapel  on 
the  north  side  of  the  street.  This  belongs  to  the  Sisters  of 
Zion,  who  have  charge  of  a  girls’  school  here  in  the  Holy  City, 
Here  is  an  arch  built  over  the  street.  It  is  called  the  “Ecce- 
Homo  arch.”  Near  this  place  Pilate  stood  when  he  said  about 
the  scourged  and  thorn-crowned  Master,  “ Behold  the  man!” 
When  we  came  into  the  chapel,  we  observed  that  their  altar 
board  consisted  of  a  wall,  which  looked  to  be  very  old.  From 
this  wall  the  arch,  which  we  had  seen  on  the  street,  extends, 
and  the  legend  is  to  this  effect,  that  the  Savoiur  walked  be¬ 
neath  this  arch  when  He  carried  His  cross  to  Golgotha.  One 
of  the  sisters  brought  us  down  into  a  chapel,  which  is  beneath 
the  floor.  Some  years  ago,  as  they  were  digging  under  this 
floor,  they  found  another,  made  of  stone.  This  is  said  to  be  the 
Gabatha,  on  which  Pilate  was  sittnig,  when  he  condemned 
Christ  to  the  cross.  In  the  floor  there  were  certain  peculiar 
inscriptions;  and  regarding  these  our  guide,  Mr.  Larson,  said, 
“Here  the  Roman  soldiers  were  playing  dice  in  their  leisure 
times.”  When  we  had  looked  through  this  chapel,  we  went 
out  on  the  street  again.  At  a  little  distance  to  the  west  of  the 
Stephen  gate,  we  turned  to  the  left,  and  came  to  the  “White 
Brethren,”  Les  Freres  Blancs.  They  work  among  the  Africans 
and  belong  to  the  Roman  church.  Here  we  were  shown  the 
pool  of  Bethesda.  The  good  monks  led  us  down  to  the  water, 
which  was  quite  deep.  I  put  my  hand  into  the  water,  and 
found  it  quite  lukewarm.  I  came  down  to  the  water  on  a  stair 
along  the  north  side  of  the  dam.  Was  it  here  at  this  dam  that 
the  Savior  walked  along,  when  he  attended  the  Purim  festival 


[  406] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


in  Jerusalem,  and  healed  the  man,  who  had  been  sick  for  eight 
and  thirty  years?  The  location  seems  to  be  the  right  one,. 
The  dam  is  not  far  from  the  Stephen  gate  and  according  to  the 
ancient  testimonies  the  Sheepgate  was  located  about  on  the 
same  place. 

At  this  dam  there  were  five  porches,  and  in  these  lay  a 
great  multitude  of  impotent  folk,  blind,  halt,  withered,  waiting 
for  the  moving  of  the  water.  For  an  angel  went  down  at  a  cer¬ 
tain  season  into  the  pool  and  troubled  the  water :  whosoever 
first  after  the  troubling  of  the  water  stepped  in  was  made  whole 
of  whatsoever  disease  he  had  (John  5:  1-5).  Here  the  Lord 
found  a  man  who  had  been  sick  for  eight  and  thirty  years,  and 
him  He  healed,  so  that  he  took  his  bed  and  walked.  We  know 
the  complaint  of  the  Jews  against  the  merciful  Master  and  the 
outcome  of  the  same. 

When  we  had  seen  the  pool,  we  came  up  again  and  saw 
the  ruins  of  an  ancient  church  from  the  time  of  the  Crusades. 
Near  the  pool  is  a  museum  and  this  is  worth  while  seeing.  It 
belongs  to  the  White  Brethren.  A  French  monk  showed  us 
the  old  relics  of  various  kinds.  Quite  near  here  is  the  church 
of  St.  Anna,  the  sister  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  Tradition  says  that 
her  house  was  built  on  the  spot  where  this  church  is  located. 
From  this  place  we  walked  to  the  Stephen  gate,  and  looked  into 
the  temple  place,  and  then  went  back  to  the  colony.  Then 
we  observed  the  various  stations  which  indicate  some  event  in 
the  last  wandering  of  Christ  to  Golgotha.  There  are  fourteen 
such  stations.  It  is  clear  that  nothing  definite  can  be  deter¬ 
mined  regarding  these  places.  They  are  fabricated  by  the 
Catholics  and  have  no  historic  value. 

Our  wanderings  in  the  city  that  Sunday  afternoon  were 
very  interesting,  and  we  were  very  well  satisfied  with  what  we 
had  seen.  As  we  were  to  rise  early  in  the  morning,  we  went 

[  407  ] 


» 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


to  bed  quite  early.  Monday  morning  at  7  :30  Dr.  Floreen,  Cap¬ 
tain  Johnson,  and  I  sat  in  the  carriage  which  was  to  bring  us 
to  Hebron.  We  passed  by  the  Jaffa  gate,  where  a  great  throng 
was  going  back  and  forth  in  the  morning,  went  down  into  the 
Gihon  valley,  and  passed  the  English  hospital  for  eye  diseases. 
Behind  this  rises  the  Mount  of  Evil  Council,  and  to  the  right  we 
have  the  railroad  station.  A  little  further  on  and  we  come  on 
the  plain  of  Rephaim.  Here  we  have  a  very  good  view  of  the 
whole  vicinity.  At  the  southern  end  of  this  plain  there  is  a 
well,  called  Bir  Kardismu.  It  is  said  that  here  the  wise  men 
from  the  Orient  again  saw  the  star  which  was  concealed  for 
some  time.  Another  tradition  points  to  this  place  as  the  loca¬ 
tion  where  the  Virgin  Mary  rested  on  a  rock.  To  the  south  of 
this  plain  there  is  a  mountain  ridge  called  Mar  Eljas,  and  on 
this  ridge  is  a  convent  by  the  same  name.  Credulous  monks 
think  that  this  is  the  mount  where  the  prophet  Elijah  enacted 
his  drama,  and  that  he  was  on  this  mountain,  when  the  Lord 
gave  him  a  cake,  baked  on  the  coal  and  a  cruse  of  water 
(I  Kings  19:6).  When  we  came  on  the  top  of  this  hill,  we  saw 
Beth-Lehem  in  the  distance  on  a  ridge  surrounded  by  oleanders, 
fig  trees  and  vineyards.  To  the  right  we  have  Tantur  on  the 
slope,  leaning  towards  the  east.  This  belongs  to  the  Order  of 
Malta.  Here  is  a  hospital,  supported  by  the  Order  of  Saint 
John.  After  a  little  while  we  come  to  a  cross  road,  where  one 
of  the  ways  leads  to  Beth-Lehem,  the  other  to  Hebron.  On  the 
west  side  of  the  road  is  the  tomb  of  Rachel.  The  Arabs  call  it 
Kubbet  Rahil.  When  the  patriarch  Jacob  came  from  Mesopo¬ 
tamia  on  the  way  to  Ephrat,  Rachel  brought  forth  a  son,  and, 
having  done  so,  she  died.  “And  Rachel  died,  and  was  buried 
in  the  way  to  Ephrath,  which  is  Bethlehem.  And  Jacob  set  a 
pillar  upon  the  grave :  that  is  the  pillar  of  Rachel ’s  grave  unto 
this  day”  (Gen.  35:19-20).  These  events  took  place  here  by 

[  408] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


the  roadside.  The  place  has  come  into  the  possession  of  the 
Jews  of  late,  and  is  considered  holy  by  the  Mohammedans, 
Jews  and  Christians.  There  have  been  some  additions  to  this 
tomb  now  and  then,  and  it  is  quite  large  at  present.  A  consid¬ 
erable  cupola  is  extended  over  the  western  wing,  and  there  is 
a  court  on  the  eastern.  This  was  built  by  Moses  Montefiore  in 
the  beginning  of  the  year  1840.  Some  have  wondered  whether 
this  is  the  right  place  or  not,  but  the  above  quotation  from  the 
Bible  does  not  leave  any  doubt  as  to  the  correctness  of  the 
place.  Some  have  believed  that  I  Samuel  10:2  and  Jeremiah 
31 :15  gives  proof  to  the  supposition  that  the  tomb  of  Rachel 
was  located  to  the  north  of  the  Holy  City,  but  we  have  not  been 
able  to  find  any  ground  for  such  reasoning  in  the  above  Scrip¬ 
ture  passage.  In  the  first  quotation  we  find  that  the  tomb  of 
Rachel  was  located  at  Zelzah  at  the  boundary  line  of  Benjamin, 
and  this  is  another  evidence  for  the  genuiness  of  the  place.  In 
Jeremiah  the  Scripture  passage  has  reference  to  the  Israelites 
in  the  Babylonian  captivity.  Just  as  Rachel  lamented  her  chil¬ 
dren,  because  they  were  no  more,  so  the  children  of  Israel 
lamented  because  their  children  were  carried  into  captivity. 
According  to  our  idea  there  is  nothing  in  these  Scripture  pas¬ 
sages  which  is  at  variance  with  the  supposition  that  the  tomb 
of  Rachel  on  the  way  to  Beth-Lehem  is  the  correct  one. 
Ramah  signifies  height,  and  both  Beth-Lehem  and  the  tomb  of 
Rachel  are  located  on  the  top  of  the  mountains  of  Judah.  Here 
lamentation  and  weeping  were  heard  during  the  captivity  as 
well  as  in  the  days  of  Herod.  We  lingered  a  little  while  at 
the  tomb,  and  observed  that  there  is  a  cemetery  nearby.  The 
Beduins  in  the  desert  of  Judah  bring  their  children  hither  to 
inter  them.  Every  month  Jewish  pilgrims  come  to  this  tomb 
to  pray  and  to  lament  the  death  of  the  old  mother  in  Israel. 

[  409  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


From  this  place  we  ride  along  the  road  which  brings  us  to 
Hebron.  A  little  further  on  we  see  Beth-Djala,  the  old  Zelzah, 
which  we  have  referred  to  above.  Here  was  the  burial  place  of 
Kis,  the  father  of  Saul.  Here  they  buried  Saul,  Jonathan,  and 
seven  others  of  the  house  of  Saul  (II  Sam.  21:  13-14).  This 
parcel  of  land  was  located  in  Judah,  but  belonged  to  Benjamin. 
As  we  intended  to  visit  Beth-Lehem  on  our  return  to  Jerusalem, 
we  followed  the  road  and  came  to  the  pools  of  Solomon,  a  few 
miles  south  of  Beth-Lehem.  Here  we  left  the  carriage  and 
went  down  to  the  Pools,  which  are  located  to  the  east  of  the 
road.  Nearby  the  Pool  there  is  a  square  building,  which  looks 
like  a  fortress.  There  are  three  Pools  and  they  are  located  in 
a  valley,  facing  the  east.  This  is  called  Wady  Urtas.  Each 
Dam  is  located  a  little  higher  than  the  other.  There  was  an 
aqueduct  from  these  Dams  to  Jerusalem  and  this  city  was  sup¬ 
plied  with  water  from  this  place.  These  water  works  are  still 
to  be  seen  along  the  hillsides  towards  Jerusalem.  It  is  con¬ 
sidered  that  the  passage  in  Ecclesiastes  has  reference  to  this, 
“I  made  me  pools  of  water,  to  water  therewith  the  wood  that 
bringeth  forth  trees”  (Ecc.  2:6).  In  the  rainy  season  these 
pools  are  well  filled,  but  in  the  summer  time  there  is  but  little 
water  in  them. 

This  was  the  case  while  we  were  there.  Very  near  the  up¬ 
per  pool  is  a  spring,  but  it  is  locked  up  from  the  public.  Some 
have  supposed,  that  this  is  the  spring  which  Solomon  refers  to 
in  the  Song  of  Solomon,  where  he  says,  “A  garden  inclosed  is 
my  sister,  my  spouse;  a  spring  shut  up,  a  fountain  sealed” 
(Songs  of  Solomon  4:  12).  When  the  door  to  this  spring  is 
opened,  there  flows  a  clear  stream  of  water  forth.  We  were 
walking  a  long  time  around  these  pools,  observing  them  and 
the  vicinity.  These  Dams  indicate  that  in  the  time  of  Solomon 
remarkable  works  of  engineering  were  performed.  It  was 


[410] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


very  interesting  to  see  these  great  reservoirs.  They  are  mnte 
witnesses  of  what  the  ancient  times  could  bring  forth. 

From  here  you  can  travel  down  the  valley  and  in  twenty 
minutes  you  will  arrive  at  Artas,  where  a  very  beautiful  con¬ 
vent  for  nuns  has  been  erected.  Further  on  towards  the  east 
the  mountain  of  the  Franks  raises  its  bare  top  heavenward.  It 
looks  like  a  cone  and  is  about  four  hundred  feet  high  above  the 
surrounding  country.  On  the  top  are  ruins  of  walls  and 
several  towers.  In  the  Scriptures  this  mountain  is  called 
Beth-Haccerem.  “0  ye  children  of  Benjamin,  gather  yourselves 
to  flee  out  of  the  midst  of  Jerusalem  and  blow  the  trumpet  in 
Tekoa,  and  set  up  a  sign  of  fire  in  Beth-Haccerem;  for  evil  ap- 
peareth  out  of  the  north,  and  great  destruction”  (Jer.  6:1). 
Josephus"  tells  us  that  Herod  the  Great  built  a  fortress  here. 
The  fortress  was  called  Herodion,  and  a  stair  with  two  hun¬ 
dred  steps  led  to  the  top.  When  Herod  died  in  Jericho,  he  was 
brought  up  to  this  place,  a  distance  of  two  hundred  stadia, 
and  according  to  his  own  wish  was  buried  here.  This  took 
place  in  the  year  4  A.  D.  (Bell.  Jud.  1:  33:  9).  The  name 
Franker  mountain  dates  from  the  last  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  This  mountain  is  now  called  El-Fureidis,  wihich 
means  the  little  paradise.  We  now  continue  on  our  journey 
from  the  Pools  of  Solomon  and  find  very  few  places  of  particu¬ 
lar  interest  along  the  road.  On  a  hill  to  the  right  of  the  road 
we  see  the  ruins  of  Beth-Surs.  Here  was  a  fortress  in  the  time 
of  the  Maccabees,  and  here  the  Jews  fought  bravely  for  their 
independence.  Right  opposite  this  hill  we  find  a  well  by  the 
name,  of  Ain  Delwe.  A  tradition  points  to  this  place  as  the 
spot  where  Philip  baptized  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  (Acts  8). 
This  does  not  seem  to  be  the  right  place,  though,  because  there 
would  be  no  reason  for  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  to  go  this  round¬ 
about  way  to  Gaza.  Towards  the  northeast  we  see  the  ancient 

[411] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Tekoa.  Here  lived  the  wise  woman,  in  whose  mouth  Joab  laid  the 
words  which  compelled  King  David  to  allow  Absalom  to  return 
to  Jerusalem,  after  he  had  been  a  fugutive  for  three  years  in 
Syria.  From  this  place  came  the  prophet  Amos,  who  was  a 
shepherd.  Tekoa,  now  called  Tekua,  is  located  on  a  hill  and 
serves  as  a  watch  tower  for  the  community.  Further  on  to  the 
left  of  the  road  we  see  the  tomb  of  Jonah  on  a  high  hill  in  a 
village  called  Halhul.  We  have  had  occasion  on  our  journey 
to  remind  ourselves  that  the  home  town  of  Jonah  is  Gath- 
Hepher  in  Galilee,  and  here  in  Judea  his  tomb  is  located. 

As  half  past  nine  we  arrive  at  the  spring  Ain  Arub.  In 
all  likelihood  this  spring  is  very  old  and  must  have  been  here 
in  the  time  of  Abraham.  Not  far  from  this  spring  is  the  house 
of  Abraham,  Ramet  El-Chalil.  In  a  little  while  we  come  to 
Chirbet  En-Nasara,  where  the  road  turns  to  the  west,  to  the  oak 
of  Abraham.  The  road  to  this  oak  is  very  bad,  and  as  I  was 
quite  weak,  I  asked  my  coachman  to  drive  me  to  that  place; 
and  he  promised  to  do  that,  of  course  with  the  understanding 
that  I  would  give  him  bakschisch.  In  about  twenty  minutes 
we  arrived  at  the  plain  of  Mamre,  at  the  very  old  decaying  oak. 
About  it  is  a  fence  of  iron,  and  the  place  within  this  palisade  is 
filled  with  rich  soil.  No  wonder  that  this  oak  is  nearly  dry. 
Here  on  this  plain  we  walked  around  a  long  while  and  could 
hardly  realize  that  I  was  walking  around  in  the  very  same  plain 
where  Abraham,  the  father  of  the  faithful,  was  walking 
around,  waiting  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  promises.  I  felt  a 
chill  pass  through  my  body  when  I  considered,  that  it  was 
about  four  thousand  years  since  that  man  of  God  was  walking 
around  here.  Having  photographed  this  revered  oak,  which 
by  no  means  dates  from  the  time  of  Abraham,  but  may  be  about 
five  or  six  hundred  years  old,  we  left  this  sacred  place  and  went 
to  Hebron.  The  watchman  at  the  oak  wished  to  have  baksch- 


[412] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


isch ;  but  my  dragoman  asked  him  what  he  done  to  get  it, 
and  he  could  not  answer  anything.  In  about  half  an  hour  we 
arrived  at  Hebron.  The  country  around  Hebron  is  quite  well 
populated.  Here  we  see  vineyards,  and  orchards  with  watch- 
towers  among  the  trees,  where  sat  the  watchmen  to  take  care, 
that  thieves  may  not  come  and  steal.  Our  road  passes  down 
among  stone  walls  until  we  come  to  Hebron.  The  street  is 
very  narrow,  but  we  are  able  to  drive  on  with  our  carriage. 
Our  coachman  drives  ahead  until  he  comes  to  a  pool,  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  which  David  hanged  the  murderers  of  Mephi- 
boseth.  This  pool  is  130  feet  long,  130  feet  wide  and  fortjr 
feet  deep.  Near  this  pool  we  sat  down  to  eat  our  dinner.  We 
are  at  Hebron,  one  of  the  oldest  cities  in  the  world.  We  may 
be  sure  that  the  city  of  Hebron  was  here  at  the  time  of  Abra¬ 
ham,  or  about  2,000  years  before  Christ.  Its  first  name  was 
Kirjat  Arba,  and  when  this  place  is  mentioned  for  the  last 
time  in  the  Bible  it  has  the  same  name  (Neh.  11:  25).  Abra¬ 
ham  came  to  Hebron,  put  up  a  tent  in  the  plain  of  Mamre,  and 
here  built  an  altar  (Gen.  4:  13).  Here  the  patriarch  was 
visited  by  the  angels  and  here  he  instituted  the  covenant  of 
circumsion  with  Abraham.  Here  Sarah  died  and  here  she  was 
buried  in  the  cave  of  the  field  of  Machpelah  before  Mamre : 
the  same  is  Hebron  in  the  land  of  Canaan.  In  this  cave  Abra¬ 
ham,  Isaac,  Rebekah,  Leah  and  Jacob  were  also  buried. 

The  spies  came  through  this  part  of  the  country  and  cut 
off,  in  the  valley  of  Eschol,  a  branch  of  a  vine,  a  cluster  of 
grapes,  pomegranates,  and  figs,  and  brought  these  to  the  Israel¬ 
ites  in  their  camp  at  Kadesh-Barnea.  Joshua  captured 
Hebron,  killed  its  king,  and  made  it  one  of  the  six  cities  of 
refuge.  Here  David  was  anointed  king  of  Judah,  and  when  he 
had  ruled  here  for  six  months  and  seven  days,  he  was  anointed 
king  for  the  whole  country.  Here  it  was  that  Absolom  ar- 

[413] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 

ranged  for  a  meeting  with  the  rebels,  and  allowed  them  to 
chose  him  their  king.  The  king  of  Judah,  Rehoboam,  fortified 
the  city.  After  that  Hebron  is  not  mentioned  before  the  people 
returned  from  the  captivity.  Then  some  of  the  captives  settled 
in  Hebron.  The  Maccabees  captured  the  city  and  tore  down  its 
fortifications.  Now  the  city  has  no  walls,  but  there  are  certain 
gates  where  the  main  streets  lead  into  the  city.  In  1167  a 
bishopric  was  established  here,  but  in  1187,  Saladin  captured 
it  and  ever  since  that  time  Hebron  has  been  under  the  sceptre 
of  the  Turks.  The  city,  which  is  now  called  El-Chalil,  i.  e. 
God’s  Friend,  after  Abraham,  whom  the  Arabs  called  El-Chalil, 
is  located  in  a  valley,  which  extends  from  east  to  west.  At  the 
east  side  another  valley  runs  into  this  from  the  north.  The 
latter  valley  is  now  considered  to  be  the  valley  from  which  the 
spies  brought  the  fruits  of  the  land.  This  is  called  the  valley 
of  Eschol.  The  name  is  still  preserved  in  a  spring  called  Es- 
kali,  which  is  located  a  little  distance  north  in  the  same  valley. 
The  city  of  Hebron  is  located  in  the  valley  of  Hebron  and 
extends  along  the  hillside  towards  the  north.  In  the  south¬ 
western  part  of  this  valley  is  the  cave  of  Machpelah  and  the 
mosque  of  Abraham  is  built  over  it.  This  is  the  greatest  monu¬ 
ment  at  Hebron  and  it  is  very  large.  This  mosque  is  sur¬ 
rounded  by  a  wall,  which  is  200  feet  long,  112  feet  wide,  and 
55  feet  high.  The  walls  are  about  seven  or  eight  feet  thick. 
The  stones  in  this  wall  are  quite  large,  some  of  them  being  over 
30  feet  long.  On  each  corner  are  towers,  and  two  of  them  are 
rebuilt  into  minarets.  Inside  of  this  wall  is  a  building,  which 
was  built  at  the  time  when  Hebron  became  a  bishopric.  This 
building  is  95x70  feet.  When  the  Mohammedans  came  to  the 
power  at  Hebron,  they  made  some  changes  in  this  edifice.  For 
sometime  after  the  Mohammedans  had  gained  possession  of  this 


[414] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


territory,  Christians  were  admitted  into  the  mosque,  but  neither 
Jews  nor  Christians  are  now  admitted. 

The  entrance  is  on  the  east  side,  and  as  you  enter  you  come 
into  a  large  room.  On  the  north  side  are  the  graves  of  Jacob 
and  Leah,  and  on  the  south  side  those  of  Abraham  and  Sarah. 
The  mosque  does  not  occupy  more  than  about  half  of  the  space 
within  the  outside  walls.  By  arches  this  building  is  divided 
into  six  rooms.  In  one  of  the  smaller  Isaac  and  Rebekah  are 
buried. 

The  wall  which  surrounds  the  cave  and  a  great  deal  of  the 
cliff  in  which  it  is  cut  out,  was  built  during  the  time  of  Herod 
the  Great.  The  inside  building  is  Gothic  in  form  and  was 
erected  after  1167.  The  Mohammedan  additions  to  the  build¬ 
ing  are  from  1331  and  1393. 

There  are  15,000  inhabitants  in  Hebron  and  these  are,  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  hundred  Jews,  Mohammedans.  They 
are  very  fanatical  and  the  tourist  must  be  careful  so  as  not  to 
arouse  their  fanaticism.  The  people  around  Hebron  devote 
themselves  to  agriculture  and  cattle  raising.  The  people  of 
Hebron  proper  carry  on  a  lively  trade.  They  manufacture 
glassware,  leather  sacks,  and  other  goods. 

When  we  had  rested  for  some  time  by  the  pool,  we  visited 
the  bazaars  and  observed  the  folk  life  in  the  city.  The  streets 
are  miserable.  You  do  not  find  any  poorer  in  the  Orient.  A 
very  bad  smell  is  everywhere  noticeable. 

We  went  up  to  the  mosque  of  Abraham  and  walked  around 
it,  but  this  proved  to  be  a  difficult  task,  as  there  were  so  many 
cactus  hedges  around  it  on  the  north  side.  We  came  to  the 
entrance  on  the  east  side.  Here  you  may  enter  only  to  the  in¬ 
ner  door  of  the  building,  but  no  further.  The  Jews  are  allowed 
to  go  a  little  further.  At  the  stair  is  shown  a  wailing  place  for 
the  Jews,  where  they  may  come  to  pray  and  weep.  Through 

[415] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


a  hole  in  the  wall  they  are  permitted  to  look  into  the  mosque 
where  their  great  ancestors  slumber.  Not  far  from  the  stair 
there  is  a  well  called  the  Well  of  Abraham. 

When  we  had  strolled  around  the  town  for  some  time,  we 
went  back  to  our  coachman,  and  when  we  had  made  some  observa¬ 
tions  at  the  pool,  we  began  our  journey  back  to  Jerusalem,  at 
about  two  o  ’clock.  On  the  way  back  our  dragoman  showed  us  a 
new  house  to  the  left  of  the  road  upon  a  hill.  John  the  Baptist 
is  said  to  have  been  born  at  that  place.  The  Catholics  inform  us 
that  this  stern  preacher  of  repentance  saw  the  light  of  the  day 
in  this  locality.  They  show  us  another  place  to  the  west  of 
Jerusalem,  but  you  know  it  is  a  poor  prophet  who  does  not  have 
more  than  one  birthplace.  There  is  a  keen  competition  in  this 
respect,  and  they  seem  to  think  that  the  more  places  they  can 
show,  the  better  off  they  are. 

On  our  return  journey  we  stopped  awhile  at  Ain  Arub, 
so  as  to  give  our  horses  time  to  rest  awhile.  They  needed  it. 
As  we  travel  along  we  see  a  town  towards  the  northeast.  It  is 
Bethlehem.  At  five  o’clock  we  are  at  this  place  and  drive  along 
its  narrow  and  crooked  streets.  I  wondered  if  it  was  a  reality, 
or  if  I  was  dreaming.  Not  in  the  stately  palaces  of  Rome,  where 
Emperor  Augustus  held  the  scepter,  not  at  Caesarea,  where  a 
bloodthirsty  Herod,  under  the  iron  rod  of  Rome,  sat  at  the  helm, 
but  in  the  little  town  of  Bethlehem  was  the  Saviour  of  the  world 
born.  Bethlehem,  whose  first  name  was  Ephratah — which  means 
fruitful — was,  as  the  prophet  says,  “little  among  the  thousands 
of  Judah,  yet  out  of  thee  shall  He  come  forth  unto  me  that  is 
to  be  a  ruler  in  Israel,  whose  going  forth  have  been  from  of  old, 
from  everlasting”  (Mi.  5:2).  This  town  was  located  in  the  tribe 
of  Judah,  and  is  for  this  reason  called  Bethlehem  of  Judah. 
There  was  another  Bethlehem  in  Zebulon.  The  name  signifies 
house  of'  bread,  and  is  very  significant,  because  in  the  fulness 


[416] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


of  time  came  He  who  said  about  Himself,  “I  am  the  bread  of 
life.  ’  ’ 

The  country  around  Bethlehem  is  very  desert-like.  East 
of  Bethlehem  is  a  fruitful  valley,  but  outside  of  this,  the  vicinity 
is  rather  desolate.  Perhaps  it  was  to  the  east  of  this  city  that 
the  young  man,. David,  watched  the  father’s  sheep,  protecting 
them  from  lions  and  bears.  Because  David  came  from  this 
place  it  has  been  called  the  City  of  David.  After  the  captivity 
there  returned  to  this  place  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  per¬ 
sons,  and  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  during  the  time  of 
Hadrian,  some  Jews  lived  here,  but  the  emperor  forbade  them 
to  remain.  During  the  time  of  the  Crusaders  Bethlehem  became 
a  place  of  considerable  importance.  Here  they  founded  a  cloister 
and  throngs  of  pilgrims  came  here  to  see  the  birthplace  of  the 
Saviour.  The  Emperor  Justinian  built  walls  around  the  town, 
but  the  Mohammedans  tore  them  down  when  they  came  into 
power. 

Bethlehem  is  located  on  two  ridges,  which  are  connected 
by  a  third  one  that  extends  from  north  to  south  about  3,000  feet, 
and  about  1,500  feet  from  east  to  west.  The  new  houses  are  well 
built,  but  the  old  ones  are  real  hovels.  The  streets  are  mostly 
narrow  and  not  very  clean.  The  soil  is  considered  to  be  very 
fruitful,  and  around  the  town  you  see  all  kinds  of  fruit  trees. 
There  are  11,000  inhabitants  in  the  ancient  Bethlehem  of  Judah. 
Of  these,  5,300  are  Roman  Catholics,  4,000  Greek  Catholics,  300 
Mohammedans,  250  Armenians,  about  150  Protestants,  and  about 
50  Copts  and  Syrians.  Most  of  the  people  here  are  Christians, 
and  this  we  observe  immediately  in  their  behavior  in  general. 
Here  they  manufacture  various  kinds  of  trinkets  of  wood,  asphalt 
and  other  materials.  The  people  in  this  city  are  very  handy  to 
do  such  things,  and  from  here  they  export  these  products  to 

[417] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


other  places,  not  only  within  Palestine,  but  also  to  foreign  lands 
and  cities. 

The  greatest  sanctuary  in  this  place  is  the  St.  Mary’s  Church, 
or  the  church  in  which  Christ  was  born.  This  building  is  located 
in  the  eastern  part  of  the  city  on  a  limestone  cliff.  There  are 
five  naves  in  this  church,  and  they  are  separated  by  pillars 
twenty  feet  high.  St.  Mary’s  Church  is  the  oldest  church  in 
Christendom,  and  is  built  over  the  stable  in  which  the  Saviour 
was  born.  It  is  customary  even  yet  to  use  such  places,  cut  out 
in  the  hillsides,  for  stables,  where  poor  travelers  may  find  a  safe 
refuge  from  storm  and  rain.  And  into  such  places  they  take 
their  beasts  of  burden  with  them.  The  church  was  built  by 
Helena,  and  her  son,  Constantine,  who  was  emperor  over  the 
Roman  world,  completed  it  (326-333). 

In  the  eastern  end  of  the  church  there  is  a  stair  that  leads 
down  to  the  place  of  the  Nativity.  This  is  a  small  chapel,  only 
38x11  feet.  Just  as  we  came  down  to  the  floor  in  this  chapel, 
we  found  a  place  covered  with  marble.  This  is  the  Grotto  of 
the  Nativity.  Here  is  an  altar  where  fifteen  silver  lamps  burn 
night  and  day.  Under  the  altar  is  a  silver  star  in  the  floor,  and 
on  this  the  following  words  were  written :  “Hie  de  Virgine  Maria 
Jesus  Christus  natus  est”  (Here  Jesus  Christ  was  born  of  the 
Virgin  Mary).  Here  is  the  place  where  the  great  wonder  took 
place,  where  the  word  became  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us.  When 
we  come  down  the  stairs  and  into  the  Chapel  of  the  Nativity,  we 
have  to  the  left  a  crypt  where  the  manger  is  said  to  have  been 
located.  Everything  is  made  of  marble  here.  The  real  manger 
is  to  be  found,  according  to  the  story  of  the  Catholic  authorities, 
in  the  church  Maria  Maggiore  in  Rome.  Near  the  place  where 
the  manger  is  supposed  to  have  been  is  an  altar  where  the  wise 
men  worshiped  the  new-born  King  of  the  Jews  (Matt.  2:11). 
If  we  go  to  the  Chapel  of  the  Nativity  at  its  western  end,  we 

[418] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


have  to  the  right  a  well  which  began  to  flow  for  the  benefit  of 
the  Holy  Virgin.  Here  is  a  narrow  passage  which  turns  north¬ 
ward,  and  then  we  come  to  the  Chapel  of  Joseph.  Here  Joseph 
kept  himself  while  Jesus  was  born.  A  few  steps  from  here  is 
the  Chapel  of  the  Innocents.  Here  the  children  which  Herod 
killed  were  buried,  according  to  the  belief  of  the  monks.  This 
chapel  is  very  small,  and  it  is  a  question  to  me  how  twenty 
thousand  children  could  have  found  room  in  such  a  small  place. 
But  that  is  a  question  which  does  not  concern  the  monks.  They 
believe  these  things  blindly.  Towards  the  north  from  the  Chapel 
of  the  Innocents  there  is  a  small  passage  to  a  chamber  where 
the  church  father,  Hierome,  is  buried.  Quite  near  this  one  is 
another,  where  this  church  father  translated  the  Bible  from 
Greek  to  Latin.  This  translation  is  called  Versio  Vulgata,  or 
the  general.  Of  course,  we  cannot  believe  all  the  stories  which 
the  monks  tell  us  about  these  holy  places.  One  thing  is  certain, 
and  that  is,  that  Jesus  was  bom  in  the  stable  at  Bethlehem.  It 
was  night  when  the  Saviour  came  to  this  sinful  world,  and  it 
was  night,  too,  in  a  religious  sense  of  the  word.  Darkness  cov¬ 
ered  the  world,  but  Jesus,  the  light  of  the  world,  came  and  with 
His  light  dispelled  the  darkness,  and  thousands  have  through 
Him  found  light,  life  and  peace.  “The  people  that  walked  in 
darkness  have  seen  a  great  light :  they  that  dwell  in  the  shadow 
of  death,  upon  them  hath  the  light  shined”  (Is.  9:2).  When 
we  had  seen  this  historic  building,  we  went  out  and  walked 
around  in  the  city  of  Bethlehem  for  some  time,  and  then  we 
drove  out  to  see  the  surroundings  of  this  interesting  place. 
On  the  east  side  is  a  valley.  In  about  twenty  minutes’  walk 
we  reached  the  field  of  the  shepherds.  Here  the  shepherds 
tended  their  sheep  when  the  angels  sang,  “Glory  be  to  God  on 
high,  peace  on  earth,  and  good  will  towards  men.”  Here  the 


[419] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


Greeks  have  built  a  chapel.  Here,  too,  is  the  field  of  Boaz  to 
be  sought. 

It  was  getting  late,  the  shadows  began  to  grow  and  in  a 
little  while  darkness  broke  in.  We  started  on  our  way  back  to 
Jerusalem,  and  drove  by  the  tomb  of  Rachel,  along  the  road 
on  which  the  wise  men  from  the  east  traveled  in  the  darkness 
of  the  night,  led  by  the  star,  hastening  forward  over  these  hills 
with  Bethlehem  as  their  goal.  It  was  already  dark  when  we 
passed  over  the  plain  of  Rephaim.  At  half  past  six  o’clock  we 
were  at  the  American  colony.  The  following  day  I  remained 
in  my  room,  attending  to  my  correspondence  and  buying  some 
souvenirs  from  J erusalem.  My  health  was  better,  and  I  prepared 
for  an  excursion  to  Jericho,  the  Dead  Sea,  and  the  Jordan. 


[  420  ] 


Chapter  XXI 


EXCURSION  TO  JERICHO,  DEAD  SEA  AND  JORDAN 

TUESDAY,  the  20th  of  October,  I  arose  early,  as  I  was  going 
to  Jericho,  the  Dead  Sea,  and  the  Jordan.  This  excursion 
takes  two  days;  and  now  we  can  go  down  to  this  part  of  the 
country  in  a  carriage,  since  the  government  has  made  a  fairly 
good  road  to  these  places.  This  road  was  made  for  the  German 
Emperor,  when  he  visited  the  Land  of  Promise  a  few  years  ago. 
The  emperor  did  not  go  down  to  these  parts  of  the  land,  though. 
It  was  a  very  beautiful  day  when  we  started,  and  Captain  John¬ 
son  served  as  our  guide  even  during  this  excursion.  At  six 
o’clock  in  the  morning  he  came  to  the  colony  with  a  carriage, 
drawn  by  three  horses.  The  coachman  was  an  Arab,  and  he 
drove  as  I  imagine  Jehu  drove  in  the  southern  part  of  Galilee. 
We  came  to  the  Damascus  gate,  turned  to  the  left  and  followed 
the  wall,  passing  by  the  Herod  gate,  until  we  came  to  the  north¬ 
eastern  corner.  Here  we  turned  to  the  south  for  some  time, 
and  came  down  into  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  passing  over 
the  bridge  that  leads  over  the  Cedron  Valley.  Although  it  was 
early  many  were  up  and  about  their  business.  The  Mohamme¬ 
dans  do  not  generally  oversleep. 

We  now  drove  along  the  road  that  passes  around  the  Mount 
of  Olives  and  down  to  Bethany.  Part  of  this  road  I  had  trav¬ 
ersed  before  and  was  acquainted  with  the  surroundings.  Two 
miles  from  Jerusalem  is  the  little  village  of  Bethany.  This  is 
located  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  here 
is  a  quiet  and  restful  retreat.  Hither  came  the  loving  Master, 

[421] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


when  He  was  tired  and  needed  rest,  and  here  He  was  understood 
and  loved  by  Lazarus,  Martha  and  Mary.  Here  the  Master  was 
a  guest  also  in  the  house  of  Simon,  the  leper,  when  a  woman, 
having  an  alabaster  box  of  very  precious  ointment,  came  and 
poured  it  on  His  head  as  He  sat  at  meat  (Matt.  26:7).  Here 
Christ  performed  miracles,  taught  and  found  rest  and  recreation. 
Especially  do  we  find  Him  a  guest  in  the  house  of  Lazarus, 
Martha  and  Mary.  No  wonder  that  Christ  withdrew  from  the 
noise  and  the  turmoil  of  the  city  to  find  a  quiet  retreat  in  this 
secluded  spot,  where  He  was  understood,  and  where  they  heard 
Him  gladly.  At  the  upper  end  of  the  village  we  see  some  ruins 
of  a  church,  where  the  home  of  Lazarus  is  said  to  have  been  built, 
and  at  the  northern  end  of  Bethany  is  the  tomb  of  this  man. 
About  thirty  steps  towards  the  south  from  this  tomb  we  find 
the  house  of  Martha  and  Mary,  and  at  another  place  is  shown 
the  house  of  Simon,  the  leper.  On  our  return  journey  we 
stopped  here  and  observed  the  tomb  of  Lazarus,  but  on  this 
early  morning  we  went  right  on  to  Jericho.  Here  from  the 
mountain  side  we  see  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  Jordan  Valley, 
where  the  river  runs  in  various  bends  along  the  plain,  the  goal 
for  the  day.  It  looked  to  be  so  near,  but  these  places  are  farther 
off  than  we  imagine.  The  story  of  the  Master  about  the  man 
who  went  between  these  places  and  came  into  the  hands  of 
robbers,  came  before  my  mind  very  vividly  as  our  coachman 
drove  on  rapidly  down  the  defiles  of  the  Mount  of  Olives.  My 
dragoman  told  me  that  he  has  met  on  his  way  down  to  Jericho 
persons  that  shortly  afterwards  have  been  shot  or  cut  to  pieces 
with  knives.  No  wonder  that  the  tourist  feels  somewhat  timid 
when  he  is  on  his  way  down  to  these  regions. 

When  we  had  gone  about  an  hour  down  the  slope  of 
the  mountain,  our  road  became  very  steep,  zigzagging  along  the 
mountain  sides  and  deep  valleys.  We  came  to  the  Valley  of 


[422] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


El-Hod,  at  whose  western  end  the  Spring  of  the  Apostle  is 
located.  This  spring  is  called  Ain  Shemesh,  or  the  Snn  Spring, 
and  is  mentioned  in  the  Book  of  J oshna,  where  we  read :  ‘  ‘  And 
the  border  passed  toward  the  waters  of  En-Shemesh,  and  the 
goings  out  thereof  were  at  En-Rogel”  (Jos.  15:7).  This  spring 
was  located  on  the  boundary  line  of  Judah  and  Benjamin,  and 
is  called  the  Spring  of  the  Apostles,  because  the  Apostles  drank 
from  its  waters  when  they  went  up  and  down  this  road.  The 
Saviour  no  doubt  rested  here  and  drank  from  this  spring.  Near 
by  is  a  cafe,  where  the  tourists  may  rest  as  they  return  from 
Jericho.  A  little  farther  down  the  road  is  the  place  where  the 
good  Samaritan  found  the  wounded  man  and  brought  him  to 
the  inn,  or  chan. 

Soon  we  arrived  at  the  Chan  El-IJatrur,  or  the  Inn  of  the 
Good  Samaritan.  Here  are  a  crude  hotel  and  a  Turkish  post 
office.  This  hotel  is  the  only  chan  on  the  way  down  to  Jericho, 
and  perhaps  this  is  the  one  referred  to  in  the  story  of  Christ 
about  the  good  Samaritan.  On  a  hill  northeast  of  this  chan  is 
a  ruin  of  a  fortress  from  the  Middle  Ages.  Here  we  rested  for 
awhile  and  observed  as  carefully  as  we  could  the  surroundings ; 
then  we  continued  and  in  half  an  hour  we  were  at  Wady  El-Kelt, 
to  the  left  of  the  road.  Even  in  the  summer  time  there  is  little 
water  in  this  valley.  Many  have  considered  this  brook  to  be 
the  Cherith  of  Elijah,  and  even  my  guide  pointed  towards  this 
romantic  valley  and  exclaimed:  “Here  the  prophet  Elijah  kept 
himself,  because  here  is  the  brook  Cherith.  ’  ’  I  told  him  that  this 
is  not  in  accordance  with  facts,  because  we  read  in  the  Scriptures 
that  the  brook  Cherith  runs  from  the  east  into  Jordan  (I  Kings 
17:5).  But  he  insisted,  nevertheless,  that  the  brook  Cherith 
was  flowing  in  this  valley,  and  then  I  opened  the  Bible  and 
showed  him  the  words  of  the  Scriptures  and  added :  “If  the  brook 


[  423  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


flows  from  the  east  into  the  Jordan,  we  certainly  cannot  find  it 
on  the  west  side  of  the  river.  ”  Then  he  gave  in. 

We  are  now  in  the  desert,  Qnarantania,  or  the  desert  in 
which  Jesus  was  tempted  by  the  devil.  A  more  ugly  looking 
country  than  this  I  had  never  seen  before.  Here  are  deep  valleys 
and  barren  mountains,  where  huge  masses  of  rocks  are  thrown 
together  helterskelter.  If  the  Saviour  was  tempted  here  by  the 
devil,  it  was  a  great  contrast  between  His  place  of  temptation 
and  the  one  where  Adam  was  tempted. 

In  this  wild  desert  the  road  turns  in  every  possible — I  had 
almost  said  in  every  impossible  direction — until  we  come  down 
to  the  plain.  Along  the  road  we  find  caves  in  the  cliffs,  and 
these  tell  us  that  hermits  have  come  to  these  desolate  regions 
to  find  a  quiet  refuge  and  to  spend  their  time  in  prayer  and 
religious  meditation. 

When  we  came  down  on  the  plain  of  Jericho,  we  saw  Mount 
Nebo  due  east  from  the  northern  end  of  the  Dead  Sea,  in  the 
land  of  Moab.  It  looked  to  be  very  near  and  yet  it  is  quite  a 
distance  off.  On  yonder  mountain  the  man  of  God,  Moses,  stood 
when  he  looked  into  the  Land  of  Promise,  the  land  which 
his  people  should  occupy  in  days  to  come. 

It  took  some  time  before  we  came  to  the  wretched  village, 
Er-Riha,  the  old  Jericho.  Both  names  signify  “ sweet  scent,” 
and  this  town  is  rightly  so  called,  because  of  the  abundance  of 
flowers  on  this  plain.  Jericho  is  also  called  the  Palm  City,  be¬ 
cause  of  the  palm  groves  in  the  vicinity.  The  history  of  Jeri¬ 
cho  is  full  of  changes.  The  first  time  we  hear  of  it  in  history 
is  when  the  Israelites  under  the  leadership  of  Joshua,  captured 
it  from  the  Canaanites.  Here  lived  Rahab,  who  received  the 
spies  and  was  afterwards,  with  her  relatives,  spared,  when  the 
town  was  captured.  Joshua  authorized  his  people  to  take  the 
following  oath,  ‘‘Cursed  be  the  man  before  the  Lord  that  riseth 


[424] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


up  and  buildeth  this  city,  Jericho;  he  shall  lay  the  foundation 
thereof  in  his  first  horn,  and  in  his  youngest  son  shall  he  set  up 
the  gates  of  it”  (Jos.  6:  26).  It  must  not  have  been  desolate 
very  long,  because  in  the  times  of  the  Judges  it  was  taken  by 
Eglon,  king  of  Moab  (Jud.  3.  13).  Later  on  we  read  in  I  Kings 
16:  34,  that  in  the  time  of  Ahab  (918-896  B.  C.)  the  Bethelite, 
Hiel  rebuilt  it.  But  when  he  laid  its  foundation  it  cost  him  his 
oldest  son  Abiram,  and  when  he  put  up  its  gates,  it  cost  him 
his  youngest  son  Segub,  in  accordance  with  the  word  which  the 
Lord  had  spoken  through  Joshua,  the  son  of  Nun.  In  spite  of 
the  promised  condemnation  it  was  rebuilt  and  a  school  for  the 
prophets  was  established  in  the  time  of  Elijah  and  Elisha. 
Fifty  of  the  sons  of  the  prophets  followed  these  two  prophets 
to  the  Jordan  when  Elijah  ascended  to  heaven  and  they  re¬ 
turned  with  Elisha  to  Jericho.  The  Old  Testament  Jericho  was 
located  at  the  Fountain  of  Elijah  whose  water  he  made  sweet 
by  throwing  salt  into  it  (II  Kings  2:  19-22).  Josephus  writes 
that  the  fountain  was  located  nearby  the  old  town  and  there  on 
the  east  side  of  the  ruins  it  is  still  flowing.  The  present-day 
Jericho  is  about  fifteen  minutes  distance  south  of  the  old  place. 
That  Jericho,  which  is  spoken  of  in  the  New  Testament,  was  lo¬ 
cated  about  half  a  mile  south  of  the  present  Jericho  by  the  road 
which  leads  to  Jerusalem,  and  near  the  valley  which  runs  down 
from  the  desert  of  Quarantania.  There  are  still  some  ruins  here. 
Herod  the  Great  fortified  the  city,  and  also  built  a  stadium  or 
athletic  field.  Here  he  imprisoned  some  of  the  prominent  men  of 
the  country  and  commanded  his  sister  to  kill  them  in  order  that 
there  might  be  weeping  and  lamentation  at  his  death.  He 
well  knew  that  otherwise  no  one  would  lament  him  when  he 
was  dead.  Here  in  Jericho  he  spent  most  of  his  time  in  his  de¬ 
clining  years.  He  tried  to  commit  suicide,  but  was  prevented 
in  this  criminal  act.  Shortly  after  this  he  died  and  his  remains 


[425] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


were  brought  to  the  Herodion  where  they  were  interred.  In 
the  time  of  Christ,  Jericho  was  a  city  of  considerable  size.  The 
Gospels  tell  us  that  He  visited  Jericho  only  once  and  this  took 
place  at  the  end  of  His  public  ministry,  when  He  passed 
through  Jericho,  and  went  up  to  Jerusalem  to  attend  the  Pass- 
over.  Jericho  became  a  bishopric  in  325.  During  the  Cru¬ 
sades  Jericho  was  a  place  of  some  note,  but  when  the  Moham¬ 
medans  came  to  power,  it  dwindled  down  and  now  it  is  one  of 
the  most  wretched  villages  in  Palestine. 

When  we  had  arrived  at  the  hotel  Bellevue  and  there  left 
our  baggage,  we  drove  to  the  Old  Jericho.  Along  the  road  we 
saw  a  great  many  plantations  and  orchards,  and  these  gave  us 
an  idea  as  to  the  nature  of  the  soil  on  this  plain.  The  ancient 
Jericho  was  recently  excavated  by  the  Germans  under  the 
leadership  of  Professor  Sellin.  Here  we  saw  the  old  walls 
and  some  of  the  houses  where  the  ancient  Canaanites  lived. 
The  stones  were  not  large  nor  especially  well  trimmed.  The 
rooms  must  have  been  very  small  and  dark  and  the  streets  un¬ 
usually  narrow.  I  went  around  among  these  ruins  with  my 
dragoman  and  these  hours  were  certainly  very  interesting  to 
me.  The  view  of  the  surrounding  country  is  very  attractive. 
On  the  other  side  of  the  Jordan  we  see  the  mountains  of  Moab 
and  we  have  a  splendid  view  of  the  plain  of  Jericho,  the  moun¬ 
tains  of  Judah,  and  the  Dead  Sea.  On  the  west  side,  not  very 
far  off,  is  Djebel  Karantel,  or  the  mountain  Quarantania. 
Here  we  see  the  Wady  Kelt,  or  Cherith,  and  the  convents  along 
the  mountain  sides  look  like  birds’  nests. 

Now  we  must  leave  Jericho,  with  its  many  enjoyable  as  well 
as  disagreeable  memories.  As  I  was  walking  around  on  the 
fallen  walls  of  Jericho  these  words  came  to  me  as  never  before: 
“By  faith  the  walls  of  Jericho  fell”  (Heb.  11:30).  Near  by 
is  the  Pool  of  the  Sultan.  It  is  very  beautiful  to  see  the  water 


[  426  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


bubble  forth  in  a  vicinity  where  nearly  everything  is  scorched 
by  the  sun. 

We  returned  to  the  hotel,  and  at  two  o’clock  in  the  afternoon 
we  journeyed  to  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  Jordan.  The  road  to 
those  places  sometimes  led  us  down  into  deep  ravines.  It  took 
us  just  an  hour  to  reach  the  northern  end  of  the  Dead  Sea — 
eight  miles  from  Jericho.  Having  arrived  at  the  sea,  I  took  a 
bath,  and  this  proved  a  very  unusual  one.  The  water  is  very 
clear,  and  you  can  see  the  bottom  far  out  from  the  shore.  A 
very  strong  wind  blew  from  the  south,  and  the  waves  were 
beating  against  the  shore,  as  though  they  were  of  molten  lead. 
It  is  very  easy  to  swim  in  this  water,  and  if  one  is  not  able  to 
swim,  he  need  not  be  afraid  that  he  will  sink.  I  took  along 
some  water  in  a  bottle,  and  it  was  very  bitter. 

At  the  shore  of  the  Dead  Sea!  What  occasion  for  serious 
meditations  do  we  not  have  here !  Time  and  again  we  have 
heard  that  the  surroundings  of  the  Dead  Sea  bear  the  stamp 
of  desolation  and  death,  and  that  is  so.  The  mountains  which 
run  down  to  the  sea  bear  the  stamp  of  loneliness  itself.  In  the 
water  there  is  no  life.  If  you  put  a  fish  into  the  water  it  will 
die  in  less  than  a  minute.  What  changes  have  not  taken  place 
in  this  locality !  What  a  serious  reminder  of  how  God  punishes 
ungodliness !  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  shall  stand  forth  as  ex¬ 
amples  of  this  truth.  The  name  Sodom  is  still  preserved  in  the 
name  Usdum  at  the  southern  end  of  the  sea.  There  is  also  a 
mountain  of  salt.  This  sea  is  about  fifty  miles  long,  about  ten 
miles  wide,  and  very  shallow  at  the  southern  end.  Time  and 
again  pieces  of  asphalt  have  come  up  from  the  bottom,  and  such 
pieces  are  still  to  be  found,  although  not  in  such  an  abundance. 
This  asphalt  is  sold  at  a  great  price  in  the  market.  This  sea 
is  called  by  the  Arabs  Balir  Lut,  i.  e.,  the  Sea  of  Lot. 


[  427] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Five  times  this  sea  has  been  investigated.  It  was  first 
studied  in  1835  by  the  Irishman,  Castigan.  In  1837  this  sea  was 
carefully  investigated  by  two  Englishmen,  More  and  Bleek. 
These  men  discovered  that  the  Dead  Sea  is  much  lower  than 
the  Mediterranean  Sea.  It  is  1,292  feet  below  the  level  of  the 
sea.  A  third  explorer  was  Molyneax.  He  went  down  the  River 
Jordan  in  a  boat.  His  fellow  travelers  were  plundered  by  the 
Arabs,  but  he  returned  with  his  boat  to  Jaffa  in  1848.  Another 
explorer  was  Lynch,  who  in  the  same  year  made  an  exploration 
tour  down  the  River  Jordan  and  over  the  Dead  Sea.  The  result 
of  this  journey  was  of  considerable  importance. 

Now  we  must  break  away  from  the  Dead  Sea  and  go  to  the 
Jordan.  We  have  been  at  the  sea  a  little  distance  to  the  west 
of  the  place  where  the  Jordan  enters  into  it,  and  now  we  start 
over  the  plain  towards  the  northeast,  and  come  to  the  fording- 
place  of  the  pilgrims.  There  we  found  certain  boats  which  are 
kept  there  for  Pilgrims,  who  may  wish  to  go  out  on  the  river. 
The  water  was  so  dirty  that  I  did  not  feel  inclined  to  take  a 
bath,  although  I  was  in  need  of  washing  off  the  salt  which 
stuck  to  my  body  from  bathing  in  the  Dead  Sea.  Several  times 
before  I  had  been  on  the  banks  of  the  historic  Jordan,  and  I 
was  very  pleased  to  be  there  again.  Here  John  the  Baptist 
went  about,  preaching  the  baptist  of  repentance  and  the  for¬ 
giveness  of  sins.  To  this  place  people  came  from  various  parts 
of  the  land  to  hear  this  stern  preacher  of  repentance,  and  many 
were  moved  by  his  words  and  became  baptized.  John  the  Bap¬ 
tist  went  to  the  bottom  of  things,  and  preached  to  high  and 
low  repentance  and  forgiveness  of  sins.  No  wonder  he  stirred 
up  the  whole  country  with  his  solemn  call  to  God.  Here  on 
the  banks  of  the  Jordan  he  saw  Jesus,  and  as  he  saw  Him,  he 
said :  ‘  ‘  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of 
the  world”  (John  1:29).  John’s  mission  was  to  prepare  the 

[  428  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


way  of  the  Lord,  and  as  a  true  friend  of  the  bridegroom  he  re¬ 
joiced  when  he  saw  the  people  come  to  Jesus  and  believe  in  Him. 
Jesus  bore  testimony  of  John,  and  said  of  him  that  he  was  a 
shining  light,  and  John  wished  to  see  the  light  on  the  candle¬ 
stick.  But  Herod  Antipas,  although  he  heard  him  willingly 
and  sometimes  conformed  to  his  wishes,  began  to  suspect  him, 
and  so  he  put  him  into  prison  and  finished  his  career  at  the 
instigation  of  a  harlot.  John  the  Baptist  had  said:  “It  is  not 
lawful  for  thee  to  take  thy  brother’s  wife,”  and  that  testimony 
was  sufficient.  And  so  he  died  a  martyr  in  a  dungeon — he  the 
greatest  of  those  that  are  born  of  women.  God’s  ways  are  won¬ 
derful. 

For  a  long  time  I  stood  there  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan 
and  reviewed  the  past  events  in  my  mind.  I  thought  par¬ 
ticularly  of  Him  who  here  at  Bethabara,  on  the  other  side  of 
the  J ordan,  was  dedicated  to  His  public  ministry  by  the  baptism 
of  John.  It  would  have  been  a  great  delight  to  see  the  Master 
as  He  came  walking  along  these  banks.  The  river  is  between 
80  and  100  feet  wide,  and  from  5  to  12  feet  deep.  Here  it 
flows  down  in  a  deep  valley,  and  in  some  places  the  banks  are 
quite  high.  Along  the  banks  there  are  trees  and  bushes  of 
various  kinds.  Although  the  water  is  very  muddy  at  this  ford, 
there  are  thousands  of  pilgrims  who  bathe  at  this  place.  Along 
the  plain  there  are  many  tents,  and  then  the  tourist  is  reminded 
of  the  time  when  Israel  came  over  the  Jordan  under  the  leader¬ 
ship  of  Joshua.  There  is  a  great  throng  of  Russian  pilgrims 
who  come  here  annually  to  visit  the  holy  places  and  to  bathe  in 
the  River  Jordan.  These  pilgrims  have  saved  their  money 
from  year  to  year,  in  order  that  they  might  go  to  the  Holy  Land. 
Some  of  them  are  walking  and  endure  a  great  deal  of  hardship. 
They  consider  it  to  be  a  special  grace  to  bathe  in  the  waters 
of  the  Jordan,  and  they  believe  that  they  become  free  from  their 

[  429  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


sins  if  they  bathe  in  this  water.  It  is  very  interesting  to  be 
here,  because  this  place  has  so  many  holy  memories,  and  besides 
this,  it  is  a  place  of  natural  beauty.  This  river  is  134  miles 
long,  but  owing  to  the  many  bends  and  crooks  along  its  course, 
it  is  somewhat  over  200  miles  from  Hasbeya  to  the  Dead  Sea. 
Prom  the  springs  at  its  source  it  descends  about  3,000  feet. 
This  river  is  then  lower  than  any  other  river  in  the  world. 
No  city  has,  at  any  time,  been  built  on  its  banks,  and  because 
of  the  many  waterfalls,  it  has  not  been  used  for  navigation. 
The  valley  at  this  fording  place  is  about  fifteen  miles,  and  is 
an  old  lava  field.  When  we  came  to  the  bathing  place  of  the 
pilgrims,  there  stood  a  great  many  Americans  on  the  shore, 
silent  and  meditating.  It  was  an  impressive  hour.  The  day 
was  drawing  to  its  close.  Resting  awhile,  we  drove  back  to 
Jericho.  Our  road  goes  due  west  over  the  plain  of  Jericho. 
In  a  short  time  we  come  to  a  little  hill  on  the  left  side  of  the 
road.  It  is  called  Tell  Djiljul  and  is  the  site  of  the  ancient 
Gilgal.  The  English  Palestine  Fund  has  made  this  discovery, 
and  the  location — one  and  a  half  miles  to  the  east  of  Er-Riha — 
corresponds  with  the  testimony  of  J osephus  and  of  J oshua.  Here 
the  Israelites  erected  twelve  memorial  stones;  here  they  cele¬ 
brated  Passover;  here  the  Prince  of  the  army  of  the  Lord  re¬ 
vealed  Himself  to  Joshua;  and  here  the  manna  ceased,  because 
the  children  of  Israel  ate  of  the  fruit  of  the  land.  Here  at  Gilgal 
Joshua  circumcised  those  who  had  been  born  during  the  journey 
in  the  desert. 

In  a  little  while  we  are  in  the  village  of  Er-Riha.  Here 
we  are  again  reminded  of  the  most  pitiable  misery,  poverty  and 
dirt.  Poor  human  beings  who  live  in  such  a  wretched  state! 
At  five  o’clock  we  are  at  the  hotel.  Tired  of  the  day’s  journey, 
I  went  to  bed  at  my  earliest  convenience,  as  we  planned  to  rise 
early  in  the  morning  to  return  to  J erusalem.  But  I  was  not  able 

[  430  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


to  sleep  at  all,  because  of  the  hyenas  and  the  jackals,  which  made 
a  fearful  noise  all  the  night.  On  our  way  to  the  Dead  Sea  we 
had  seen  one  of  those  animals;  he  seemed  very  scared  and  fled 
as  fast  as  he  could.  On  this  plain  there  are  also  some  wild 
boars ;  and  I  pity  him  who  meets  with  them  and  has  nothing  to 
defend  himself  with.  One  of  the  members  of  the  American 
colony  was  on  the  point  of  losing  his  life  at  one  time  on  this 
plain,  in  a  combat  with  one  of  those  brutes. 

The  21st  of  October  we  arose  at  three  o’clock,  and  within 
three-quarters  of  an  hour  I  was  in  the  carriage  on  the  way  back 
to  the  Holy  City.  It  was  so  dark  that  we  could  not  see  our 
hands  when  we  extended  them  in  front  of  us.  When  we  came 
among  the  hills  of  Quarantania,  my  dragoman  observed  an 
animal  right  by  our  carriage.  I  asked  him  what  it  was  and  he 
answered,  “A  hyena.”  A  little  farther  on  in  the  road  we  saw 
something  else  and  I  wondered  what  that  might  be.  Were  these 
Beduins,  watching  for  prey?  A  few  minutes  more  and  we 
observed  a  caravan  in  the  streaks  of  light  that  began  to  appear. 
Camels  and  asses  were  working  their  way  up  to  the  city  on  the 
hill.  Poor  animals!  They  were  very  heavily  loaded  with  coal, 
which  they  had  brought  from  Moab  to  Jerusalem.  We  felt 
secure  in  the  company  of  this  caravan  in  the  early  morning, 
as  we  knew  that  the  robbers  did  not  dare  to  attack  so  many 
at  one  time.  Hastening  along  the  hills  and  valleys,  we  came 
quite  early  to  the  Chan  of  the  Good  Samaritan.  Here  we  stopped 
awhile  and  rested  our  horses.  Not  far  from  this  chan  there  is 
a  road  which  the  Mohammedans  have  made  to  Jebel  Musa,  or 
the  Mountain  of  Moses.  They  consider  that  the  tomb  of  this 
man  of  God  is  somewhere  among  these  hills,  forgetting  that 
Moses  died  in  the  land  of  Moab,  on  the  other  side  of  the  J ordan. 
Slowly  we  came  to  the  Spring  of  the  Apostles.  Here  we  rested 
awhile  and  then  continued  to  Bethany,  or  El-Asarje.  Here  we 


[431] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


stopped  for  some  time  and  went  np  to  the  tomb  of  Lazarus  and 
the  house  of  Martha  and  Mary.  There  is  a  long  stone  stair 
leading  down  to  the  real  tomb.  This  tomb  has  the  form  of  a 
chapel,  and  on  the  floor  is  an  excavation,  in  which  the  body 
of  Lazarus  is  said  to  have  been  laid.  The  Master  stood  on  the 
outside  and  spoke  those  powerful  words,  “ Lazarus,  come  forth!” 
The  dead  man  came  out,  although  he  had  been  dead  for  four 
days.  Some  time  we  shall  all  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  Man, 
and  then  we  shall  come  forth  from  our  graves  and  some  shall  go 
to  everlasting  life  and  some  to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt. 
The  Lord  Jesus  has  by  His  death  hallowed  our  graves  and  de¬ 
prived  them  of  their  terror ;  and  in  the  name  of  Christ  we  can 
say:  “0  death,  where  is  thy  sting?  0  grave,  where  is  thy  vic¬ 
tory?”  (I  Cor.  15:  55). 

From  Bethany  we  move  along  the  road  and  come  to  the 
southern  slope  of  the  Mount  of  Olives.  As  we  turned  back 
I  saw  for  the  last  time  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  Jordan,  and  their 
historic  surroundings. 

Some  time  before  noon  we  arrived  at  the  colony  and  enjoyed 
a  needed  rest  after  the  interesting  excursion. 

The  22nd  of  October  I  spent  in  clearing  up  my  bill  with 
my  dragoman,  and  with  the  good  people  of  the  colony.  I  also 
visited  some  of  the  holy  places  to  bid  them  my  last  farewell.  I 
had  enjoyed  my  visit  in  the  Holy  City,  and  the  American  Colony 
had  helped  me  in  this  very  much.  I  had  learned  to  value  those 
kind  and  congenial  people.  Now  I  put  my  things  together  and 
prepared  myself  for  the  departure  with  a  certain  regret.  No 
wonder  that  a  Christian  departs  from  Jerusalem  with  sadness. 
My  longing  was  satisfied:  I  had  knelt  on  Golgotha  and  in  the 
Holy  Sepulchre.  With  a  heart  full  of  feeling  I  had  sat  in  the 
Garden  of  Gethsemane  and  there  read  of  His  battle  with  the 
tempter,  and  on  Moriah  I  had  been  walking  about  and  seen  the. 

[  432] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


place  where  the  temple  stood.  From  the  Mount  of  Olives  my 
eyes  looked  down  upon  the  surroundings,  which,  with  their  holy 
places,  have  no  parallel  on  this  earth.  A  man’s  heart  would  be 
like  a  stone  if  it  could  leave  these  sacred  landmarks  in  the 
history  of  Christendom  without  regret.  But  I  must  continue 
my  journey  to  Egypt. 


Chapter  XXII 


FROM  JERUSALEM  TO  PORT  SAID 

JTAARLY  in  the  morning,  the  23rd  of  October,  I  bade  my 
1  '  J  friends  farewell.  The  train  rushed  along  the  plain  of 
Rephaim,  and  here  I  saw  for  the  last  timee  the  walls  and  some 
of  the  housetops.  Our  train  went  through  the  valleys  of  the 
mountains  of  Judah,  and  soon  we  came  to  the  plain  of  Philistia. 
Here  in  the  car  I  sat  with  Turks,  Arabs  and  various  other  kinds 
of  people,  but  my  spirit  was  in  the  Holy  City  and  at  its  holy 
places.  A  little  before  noon  we  were  at  the  station  in  Jaffa. 
Here  we  heard  the  usual  noise  and  the  boisterous  crowd  of  Arabs 
were  trying  to  get  hold  of  our  baggage.  An  Arab  boy  tore  the 
handle  from  my  valise.  At  last  I  left  it  in  the  care  of  a  “ham- 
mal  ’  ’  and  he  brought  it  down  to  the  wharf.  This  was  the  fourth 
time  that  I  had  been  in  Jaffa,  and  I  began  to  feel  at  home  here. 
We  went  along  the  narrow  streets  and  came  at  last  to  the  shore. 
Out  at  sea,  at  quite  a  distance,  was  the  Austrian  Lloyd  Line 
steamer  Amphitrite  at  anchor.  The  storm  was  quite  hard,  and 
the  question  was,  how  we  should  be  able  to  go  out  to  the  boat. 
I  delivered  myself  into  the  hands  of  an  Arab,  and  stepped  into 
a  boat  manned  by  ten  rowers.  The  rowers  sang  their  monotonous 
song  to  Allah  as  they  rowed  powerfully  together.  We  were 
going  safely  “through  the  rocks,”  but  were  sometimes  deep 
down  between  the  waves,  and  saw  neither  the  boat  nor  the  city. 
The  storm  was  raging  at  Mersina,  but  it  was  more  furious  here. 
At  last  we  drew  close  to  the  steamer,  and  in  a  few  minutes  I 
was  on  the  deck.  I  paid  the  Arab  two  francs,  and  I  considered 


[434] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


this  cheap,  because  he  carried  my  baggage  from  the  station  and 
took  me  to  the  steamer  for  the  same  price  The  intention  was  to 
start  at  2  P.  M.,  but  we  did  not  depart  before  five  o’clock  in 
the  afternoon.  In  the  Orient  they  are  not  in  a  hurry. 

From  the  boat  we  have  a  very  good  view  of  the  city  of 
Jaffa,  the  coast  north  and  south  of  this  place,  and  of  the  moun¬ 
tains  of  Judah.  At  six  o’clock  we  see  the  last  glimpse  of  the 
Holy  Land,  which  then  sinks  slowly  beneath  the  waves.  From 
these  shores  the  greatest  message  given  unto  man  has  been  sent 
abroad  into  the  whole  wide  world!  Thou  art  still,  because  of  a 
perverse  generation,  as  an  owl  in  a  ruined  city,  as  a  desolate 
land;  thou  are  as  a  widow  in  the  garment  of  mourning.  From 
Dan  to  Beer-Sheba  thy  valleys  are  sighing  because  of  misuse,  and 
thy  mountains  echo  their  sighs.  But  thy  memories  are  still 
there.  Everywhere  within  thy  boundaries  there  are  unmistak¬ 
able  proofs  of  the  truthfulness  of  the  Holy  Book.  In  this  land 
the  spade  has  done  wonders.  The  prophecy  is  being  fulfilled  and 
rightly  so,  because  God’s  word  cannot  fail.  The  more  we  learn 
about  the  Land  of  Promise,  the  more  we  find  evidence  in  abun¬ 
dance  showing  that  the  word  of  the  Lord  remaineth  forever. 
Just  as  the  storms  and  the  showers  will  clear  away  the  sand 
and  the  rubbish  at  the  foot  of  the  cliff  and  show  the  solid  foun¬ 
dation,  the  eternal  rocks,  in  like  manner  the  storms  of  unbelief 
and  the  floods  of  rationalism  will  only  help  to  show  forth  the 
solid  foundation  upon  which  the  words  and  the  promises  are 
built.  This  foundation  shall  never  waver,  but  remain  forever.  .  .  . 
Such  thoughts  filled  my  mind,  as  I  saw  the  last  glimpse  of  the 
Land  of  Promise. 

Darkness  set  in  early  and  I  went  to  bed  seeking  rest,  after 
weeks  of  travel  on  horseback  or  on  trains  and  boats.  In  the 
morning,  the  24th  of  October,  I  arose  at  half  past  five,  and  then 
the  pilot  and  the  physician  came  on  the  boat;  the  former  to 

[  435] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


guide  us  on  the  right  course,  and  the  latter  to  find  out  if  there 
were  any  sick  people  on  the  boat.  Straight  ahead  of  us  we  saw 
the  lights  of  Port  Said,  and  our  boat  continued  due  west.  In 
half  an  hour  we  were  at  our  goal.  The  yellow  flag  was  raised 
until  the  physician  could  determine  whether  there  were  any 
sick  people  on  the  steamer.  In  a  little  while  they  pulled  down 
the  yellow  flag.  We  understood  that  our  case  was  clear,  and  that 
we  did  not  need  to  lie  in  quarantine.  Right  before  us  we  saw 
the  African  coast.  It  was  very  low,  only  a  little  above  the  sea. 
At  seven  o’clock  in  the  morning,  October  24th,  I  set  my  foot 
on  African  soil  for  the  first  time.  This  was  the  fourth  continent 
which  I  had  seen  during  my  journey.  At  eight  o’clock  the  train 
was  to  start  for  Suez,  and  I  prepared  to  continue  my  journey 
through  Egypt,  the  land  of  the  Pharaohs. 


[  436] 


Chapter  XXIII 


FROM  PORT  SAID  TO  SUEZ 

BEFORE  we  leave  this  place,  we  wish  to  remind  ourselves  of 
some  things  about  the  city  and  its  surroundings.  It  is 
located  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  island,  which  belongs  to  the 
narrow  strip  of  land  extending  between  Lake  Menzaleh  and  the 
Mediterranean  Sea.  At  the  eastern  end  of  the  town  the  Suez 
Canal  empties  into  the  sea.  This  is  a  great  shipping  place,  and 
boats  are  coming  and  going  to  every  part  of  the  globe.  There 
are  about  50,000  inhabitants  in  Port  Said,  and  about  12,000  of 
these  are  Europeans.  At  the  northeast  end  of  the  town  is  a 
lighthouse,  174  feet  high,  one  of  the  largest  in  the  world.  You 
can  see  this  light  about  twenty-four  miles  out  at  sea. 

As  our  time  was  very  limited,  we  did  not  have  a  chance 
to  see  much  of  the  town.  At  8  o’clock  we  were  on  the  train, 
bound  for  Suez,  passing  along  the  canal  on  the  left  and  the 
lake  of  Menzaleh  to  the  right.  In  this  northeastern  part  of 
Egypt  there  were  several  cities,  and  among  them  we  might 
mention  Tanis.  This  was  located  towards  the  southwest  from 
Port  Said,  on  the  other  side  of  the  lake,  by  the  Tanitic  branch 
of  the  Nile.  Its  present  name  is  Gan,  and  is  the  Zoan  of  the 
Bible.  For  quite  good  reasons  they  have  considered  that  the 
ancient  Avaris,  the  capital  city  of  the  Hykos  dynasty,  was 
located  here.  Hebron  in  the  land  of  Canaan  was  built  “  seven 
years  before  Zoan  in  Egypt”  (Num.  13:23).  There  is  no  doubt 
that  King  Pharaoh,  who  oppressed  the  Israelites,  lived  here. 
We  read  in  the  Psalms:  “And  he  had  wrought  his  signs  in 


[  437] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Egypt,  and  his  wonders  in  the  field  of  Zoan”  (Ps.  78:43).  In 
Isaiah  we  read  of  the  “princes  of  Zoan”  (Isa.  19:13).  Tanis 
gave  its  name  to  the  twenty-first  and  twenty-third  of  the  Egyp¬ 
tian  dynasties. 

While  the  train  is  speeding  along  the  Lake  of  Menzaleh, 
we  observe  how  various  kinds  of  birds  play  their  games  in  the 
water.  There  are  pelicans,  herons  and  flamingoes.  There  are 
buffaloes  wading  in  the  water  by  the  shore.  At  El-Kantara  we 
are  at  the  southern  end  of  the  lake.  The  name  signifies  bridge, 
and  here  is  a  bridge  which  unites  this  lake  with  another  named 
Balah.  Here  on  a  peninsula  is  the  old  caravan  road  from  Egypt 
to  Syria.  Along  this  highway  the  holy  family  no  doubt  came 
down  to  the  land  of  Pharaoh.  A  little  farther  west  and  to  the 
north  of  the  caravan  road  is  Tell  Daffaneh,  which  Petrie  has 
identified  with  the  Greek  Daphne,  and  with  the  Biblical  Taha- 
panes  (Jer.  2:16).  “At  Tahapanes  also  the  day  shall  be  dark¬ 
ened,  when  I  shall  break  there  the  yokes  of  Egypt :  and  the  pomp 
of  their  strength  shall  cease  in  her”  (Ez.  30:18).  To  the  west 
the  country  is  very  level,  but  on  the  Asiatic  side  it  is  more  uneven. 

But  now  something  about  the  canal  to  the  left,  which  re¬ 
minds  us  of  the  great  work  that  De  Lesseps  has  accomplished. 
This  man  was  very  young  when  he  came  to  Egypt  for  the  first 
time  in  1836.  The  great  thought  revolved  in  his  mind,  how 
he  might  be  able  to  unite  the  Mediterranean  Sea  with  the  Red 
Sea.  He  began  the  work  in  1859,  and  then  he  engaged  25,000 
men.  To  supply  these  men  with  water  he  made  4,000  water  kegs, 
which  were  brought  to  the  men  on  camels’  backs.  About  1,600 
camels  carried  provisions  to  these  men  at  a  cost  of  8,000  francs 
per  day.  The  29th  of  September  he  completed  the  canal  which 
brought  sweet  water  to  the  laborers.  This  sweet-water  canal  was 
made  side  by  side  with  the  other,  and  it  is  still  there.  The  17th 
of  November,  1869,  the  Suez  Canal  was  ready  for  traffic,  and 

[  438  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


had  then  cost  ninety-five  million  dollars.  A  considerable  sum, 
but  now  the  passage  from  Asia  to  Europe  was  opened.  Pharaoh 
Necho  endeavored  to  dig  this  canal.  Herodotus  tells  us  that  not 
less  than  120,000  Egyptians  were  sacrificed  in  this  undertaking, 
and  then  the  king  gave  up  the  work.  One  hundred  years  later 
the  Persian  king,  Darius,  completed  this  work,  and  thus  the 
answer  of  the  oracle  was  fulfilled,  “That  the  Persians  would 
have  the  use  of  the  work.”  That  canal  was  located  in  about 
the  same  place  where  the  sweet-water  canal  is  at  present.  But 
the  old  canal  was  not  kept  up,  and  it  became  necessary  for  the 
Emperor  Trajan  (98-117)  to  restore  it. 

After  we  had  passed  by  El-Gisr,  a  station  to  the  right  of  the 
road,  right  by  a  mosque  of  some  note,  we  came  to  Lake  Timsah, 
or  Crocodile  Lake,.  To  the  southwest  of  Lake  Timsah  we  have 
to  the  left  of  the  railroad  a  hill,  Gebel  Maryam.  According  to  an 
old  Arabian  legend,  Miriam  became  leprous  here,  because  she 
opposed  the  marriage  of  Moses  with  an  Ethiopian  woman.  For 
this  she  was  compelled  to  dwell  seven  days  outside  of  the  camp 
(Num.  12).  In  this  vicinity  we  have  to  look  for  Succoth.  We 
are  now  following  the  same  course  that  the  children  of  Israel 
took  when  they  passed  by  these  lakes,  and  somewhere  along  these 
mountains  we  must  seek  Etham.  This  name  signifies  “wall,” 
and  can  have  reference  to  the  mountain  wall  which  is  formed 
by  Djebel  Genefieh.  To  this  wall  they  came  from  Succoth,  and 
continued  to  Pi  Hahiroth,  which  is  located  directly  opposite 
Baal  Zephon.  The  country  at  this  place  is  constantly  rising. 
Now  we  follow  the  canal  where  the  sweet  water  flows  along  the 
railroad,  and  then  we  have  the  Suez  Canal  to  the  left.  From 
this  place  the  wide  desert  extends  in  all  directions,  and  our 
train  is  speeding  along  very  fast.  At  twelve  o’clock  we  are  at 
Suez. 


[  439  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


The  city  is  located  at  the  end  of  the  Gulf  of  Suez  on  the 
northwest  side  and  has  17,457  inhabitants.  Suez  is  not  old. 
It  has  grown  with  the  building  of  the  canal.  I  registered  at 
the  Hotel  Bel  Air.  Here  I  rested  for  some  time  and  then  in 
the  afternoon  I  went  out  along  the  plain  to  the  southwest  of  the 
town.  Here  I  came  to  the  shore  of  the  Red  Sea.  I  tried  to 
ascertain  where  the  children  of  Israel  crossed  the  sea ;  there  have 
been  several  theories  regarding  this.  Here  I  spent  the  greater 
part  of  the  afternoon,  trying  to  find  out  where  Moses  was  when 
he  had  the  Red  Sea  before  him,  mountains  on  both  sides,  and 
the  army  of  Pharaoh  behind.  I  had  often  heard  preachers  and 
other  public  men  tell  their  audiences  what  a  critical  condition 
Moses  and  the  Israelites  were  in  here  among  the  mountains; 
but  I  could  not  see  any  mountains  here  by  the  sea.  I  looked  into 
my  Bible  and,  behold,  there  is  nothing  said  about  any  mountain 
in  this  connection !  To  the  southwest  from  the  Suez  Canal  and 
along  the  bay  is  a  mountain  range  called  Djebel  Ataka.  But 
why  should  Moses  go  so  far  to  the  south  along  the  shore  ?  There 
was  no  need  of  that.  He  knew  these  regions,  because  he  had 
gone  back  and  forth  on  his  way  to  the  mount  of  God,  Horeb, 
and  had  lived  there  forty  years.  According  to  the  latest  investi¬ 
gations  they  have  found  that  Pi  Hahiroth  is  Agrud,  near  Suez, 
and  Baal  Zephon  must  have  been  near  here.  The  children  of 
Israel  were  encamped  at  the  first-named  place,  and  this  was 
located  near  the  sea.  They  crossed  the  sea  at  Pi  Hahiroth. 
Some  Bible  students  have  with  a  great  deal  of  reason  supposed 
that  the  Red  Sea  at  that  distant  time  extended  quite  a  distance 
to  the  northwest.  Many  have  tried  to  prove  that  the  whole 
vicinity  around  the  Suez  bay  at  its  northern  end  was  much 
lower  at  the  time  of  the  Exodus,  but  that  the  land  by  the  Medi¬ 
terranean  Sea,  where  the  canal  empties  into  this  body  of  water, 
was  much  higher.  If  that  is  the  case,  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah 

[440] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


has  been  fulfilled:  “And  the  Lord  shall  utterly  destroy  the 
tongue  of  the  Egyptian  Sea,  and  with  His  mighty  wind  shall 
He  shake  His  hand  over  the  river,  and  shall  smite  it  in  the  seven 
streams,  and  make  men  go  over  dryshod”  (Is.  11:15).  Further¬ 
more  he  says :  ‘  ‘  And  the  water  shall  fail  from  the  sea,  and  the 
river  shall  be  wasted  and  dried  up”  (Is.  19:5).  Taking  all 
the  circumstances  into  consideration,  it  seems  clear  that  the 
Israelites  went  across  at  Suez,  or  somewhere  above,  towards  the 
northwest.  At  present  there  is  a  bay  extending  northward  from 
Suez,  and  this  body  of  water  is  very  shallow.  The  bay  must 
have  been  much  broader  then  than  it  is  now.  Now  it  is  about 
three-fourths  of  a  mile  across ;  then  it  must  have  been  at  least 
three  miles.  Now  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  go  around  the  bay, 
and  Moses  and  the  people  could  have  done  that,  if  the  water 
did  not  extend  farther  northward  than  it  does  now.  I  observed, 
as  I  was  walking  along  the  plain,  that  there  is  a  very  strong 
ebb  and  flow  right  there  at  the  end  of  the  bay.  When  the  water 
rushes  in,  the  whole  plain,  very  nearly,  is  covered,  and  in  the 
time  of  ebb,  the  water  runs  out  far  into  the  bay.  But  we  cannot 
explain  this  wonderful  crossing  of  the  Israelites  on  the  tide¬ 
water  theory,  because  we  read  in  the  Scriptures:  “And  the 
children  of  Israel  went  into  the  midst  of  the  sea  upon  the  dry 
ground:  and  the  waters  were  a  wall  unto  them  on  their  right 
hand  and  on  their  left”  (Ex.  14:22).  No  matter  whither  you 
turn  before  this  word,  it  is  written,  “the  waters  were  a  wall 
unto  them  on  their  right  hand  and  on  their  left.”  The  tide¬ 
water  theory  is  not  sufficient  here.  It  was  a  miracle  of  the  Lord 
that  He  brought  His  people  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  with  a 
mighty  hand. 


[441] 


Chapter  XXIV 


THROUGH  GOSHEN  TO  CAIRO 

THE  following  morning  found  me  at  the  station  a  little  before 
eight  o’clock,  ready  to  depart.  I  found  it  very  difficult  to 
secure  exchange.  I  went  to  an  Italian  store  and  asked  the  store¬ 
keeper  to  exchange  a  napoleon,  i.  e.,  20  francs.  He  put  up  seven 
francs,  and  then  took  my  money  and  put  it  into  his  purse.  I 
kept  still  until  he  had  done  this,  but  then  I  told  him  a  few 
things  which  made  him  quite  ashamed  of  himself.  He  did  not 
think  that  I  understood  the  money  of  the  land.  At  last  the 
depot  agent  changed  the  money  for  me,  I  bought  my  ticket, 
and  off  I  went  from  Suez  to  Ismailieh.  During  this  journey  I 
was  in  the  company  of  a  throng  of  Russian  pilgrims.  They 
had  been  to  Sinai  and  were  returning  to  their  own  country. 
They  looked  to  be  very  pleasant  and  were  well  dressed.  At 
Ismailieh  I  had  to  change  trains,  and  here  we  must  wait  awhile. 
From  here  we  go  to  Cairo  through  Goshen.  I  had  looked  for¬ 
ward  to  this  journey  with  a  special  interest.  This  part  of 
ancient  Egypt  is  very  fruitful,  but  during  the  Turkish  regime 
everything  had  gone  down,  and  so  had  agriculture  in  this  part 
of  Egypt.  In  the  beginning  of  the  past  century  four  thousand 
Arabs  could  hardly  support  themselves  here,  but  the  develop¬ 
ment  has  been  very  marked  under  the  English  supervision,  and 
now  there  are  about  15,000  inhabitants  here  and  more  are  moving 
in  right  along.  Near  the  canal  the  land  is  cultivated,  but  farther 
out  there  is  a  naked  and  barren  desert. 


[  442  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


When  we  came  to  Tell  El-Maskhouta  we  saw  on  the  south 
side  of  the  canal  a  ruin.  Here  was  the  old  Pithom,  one  of  the 
old  treasure  cities  which  the  children  of  Israel  built  for  Pharaoh, 
king  of  Egypt  (Ex.  1:11).  The  great  discoverer,  Naville,  has 
diligently  used  the  spade,  and  he  has  discovered  certain 
granaries  in  the  form  of  rectangular  chambers  without 
doors.  Into  these  the  Egyptians  poured  the  grain  through 
holes  in  the  roofs.  Perhaps  these  storehouses  date  from 
the  time  of  Rameses  II.  At  Abu  Hamad  we  come  into 
the  country  of  Goshen,  which  in  all  likelihood  extended 
farther  east  than  this  place.  Pharaoh  gave  this  land 
as  a  possession  to  Israel  and  his  descendants.  Rameses  was 
another  city  built  by  the  Jews  in  this  province.  At  this 
place  the  Israelites  gathered  themselves  together,  when  they 
went  out  of  Egypt,  and  continued  to  Succoth.  At  present  there 
is  a  marked  development  in  Goshen.  New  houses  are  being 
built,  more  land  is  taken  up  for  cultivation  and  irrigated  accord¬ 
ing  to  better  methods,  and  it  begins  to  appear  as  if  the  people 
of  Goshen  will  have  a  better  future. 

This  part  of  Egypt  Joseph  promised  to  his  people 
(Gen.  45:10).  Later  on  Pharaoh  promised  them  this  part  of 
Egypt,  when  he  said:  “The  land  of  Egypt  is  before  thee;  in 
the  best  of  the  land  make  thy  father  and  brethren  to  dwell;  in 
the  land  of  Goshen  let  them  dwell:  and  if  thou  knowest  any 
men  of  activity  among  them,  make  them  rulers  over  my  cattle” 
(Gen.  47:6).  Here  the  children  of  Israel  dwelt  as  strangers, 
“And  Israel  dwelt  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  in  the  country  of 
Goshen;  and  they  had  possession  therein,  and  grew  and  multi¬ 
plied  exceedingly”  (Gen.  47:27). 

Our  train  follows  the  canal,  and  this  is,  no  doubt,  the  same 
canal  that  passed  through  this  part  of  the  country  in  the  time 
of  Israel.  On  either  bank  of  this  life-giving  stream  there  are 


[  443  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


trees  of  various  kinds,  and  beautiful  plantations  and  orchards 
are  seen  on  both  sides  of  the  railroad.  In  the  canal  there  were 
a  great  many  boats  and  along  the  banks  the  colored  sons  of  Ham 
were  pulling  them  by  means  of  ropes.  Sometimes  they  used 
asses  for  this  work.  I  suppose  this  is  the  way  it  looked  in  the 
time  of  Joseph,  with  the  exception  of  the  railroad.  Here  the 
Israelites  were  in  bondage  under  their  oppressors,  and  the  Lord 
saw  their  affliction  and  heard  their  cry,  and  came  down  to  deliver 
them  (Ex.  3:7-8).  This  He  did  with  a  powerful  arm,  after  He 
had  done  many  signs  and  wonders  by  His  servant  Moses. 

The  farther  west  we  go,  the  better  cultivation  we  find,  and 
the  more  the  land  is  being  tilled.  Soon  we  arrive  at  Zakazik,  a 
city  of  about  36,000  inhabitants.  In  this  part  of  the  delta 
cotton  and  various  kinds  of  grain  and  garden  stuff  are  being 
raised  for  export.  A  little  distance  to  the  southeast  from  this 
place  we  see  Bubastis.  This  is  the  Pibeseth  of  the  Bible  (Hez. 
30:  17).  Here  was  a  great  temple  formerly,  built  by  Cheops 
and  Chefren,  the  pyramid  builders,  to  the  honor  of  the  goddess 
Bastets.  Hither  great  throngs  came  to  worship  this  goddess. 

From  this  place  we  continued  due  west  to  Benha,  and  from 
there  southwest  to  Cairo.  To  the  southwest  from  a  station 
called  Taukh  is  Chibin  El-Kanater,  in  the  vicinity  of  which 
Tell  Jahoudieh,  i.  e.,  the  “  Jew-height,”  is  located.  Here  was 
the  place  for  the  ancient  Leontopolis,  which  was  the  center  for 
the  Jews  in  the  time  of  Onias.  Here  the  Jews  built  a  temple 
in  170  B.  C.,  and  this  resembled  the  Solomonic  temple  in  Jeru¬ 
salem.  The  Jews  had  been  driven  away  from  Jerusalem  by  the 
Syrians,  and  had  found  a  refuge  in  this  part  of  Egypt.  Soon 
we  are  at  Cairo.  Here  is  life  and  business,  and  no  difficulty  in 
securing  a  good  hotel,  because  we  are  asked  by  so  many  repre¬ 
sentatives  who  are  anxious  to  have  guests.  I  registered  at  Hotel 
Londres,  and  prepared  to  see  as  much  of  this  city  as  I  could. 


[  444] 


Chapter  XXV 


CAIRO,  HELIOPOLIS,  AND  THE  PYRAMIDS 

THE  city  of  Cairo  is  located  on  the  east  side  of  the  Nile,  where 
this  river  divides  itself  into  two  branches,  Rosetta  and 
Damietta.  Here  is  the  upper  part  of  the  Nile-Delta.  Here 
Cairo  covers  an  area  of  eleven  square  miles.  A  wonderful  de¬ 
velopment  has  taken  place  here  during  the  last  years.  This 
metropolis  is  the  largest  city  in  Africa  and  it  contains  615,000 
natives  and  50,000  foreigners.  To  the  east  of  the  city  are  the 
Mokattam  Mountains,  only  650  feet  high.  Beyond  the  valley 
in  the  west  the  wild  Libyan  desert  extends  towards  the  Sahara. 
At  this  place  the  valley  is  about  eleven  miles  wide.  Here  was 
formerly  a  suburb  to  the  ancient  On,  called  Khere-Ohe. 

The  development  of  Cairo  has  taken  place  especially  during 
the  last  century.  When  England  came  into  power  in  Egypt, 
this  developed  according  to  European  methods  and  plans,  and  we 
find  that  this  has  been  for  the  good  of  the  country.  In  Jeru¬ 
salem  my  dragoman  told  me :  “When  you  come  to  Egypt  you  will 
thank  God  that  the  Englishmen  have  had  something  to  do  with 
the  development  of  the  city  of  Cairo  and  Egypt  in  general. 
They  have  taught  the  citizens  of  Cairo  to  wash  themselves.” 
He  spoke  the  truth.  Cairo  is  a  beautiful  city  with  the  exception 
of  the  southern  part,  or  the  Old  Cairo.  I  secured  a  guide  and 
the  following  day,  the  26th  of  October,  we  went  out  in  the  morn¬ 
ing  to  see  the  ancient  On,  or  Heliopolis,  the  Beth-Schemesch  of 
the  Bible.  As  my  hotel  was  located  quite  a  distance  from  the 
station,  we  rode  to  this  place  in  a  street  car,  and  from  the  station 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


we  rode  on  the  railroad  train;  for  trains  go  to  On  every  half 
hour  of  the  day.  In  twenty  minutes  we  were  there.  A  little 
distance  outside  of  Cairo  is  the  village  Kubbieh,  and  quite  near 
this  is  the  residence  of  the  Khedive  of  Egypt.  This  is  a  mag¬ 
nificent  residence  and  everything  is  built  in  a  very  luxurious 
style.  In  the  valley,  a  little  farther  on,  we  see  two  battlefields. 
In  the  year  1517  the  Battle  of  Heliopolis  took  place  in  this  valley. 
This  battle  made  the  Turks  masters  of  Egypt.  The  second 
battle  fought  on  this  plain  was  on  the  21st  of  March,  1800, 
when  the  French  general  won  a  decisive  victory  over  the  Turks 
with  only  10,000  French  troops,  while  the  Mohammedans  had 
about  60,000.  But  the  consequences  of  this  victory  were  not 
lasting. 

From  this  field  we  soon  come  to  El-Matariyeh.  Here  we 
leave  the  train  and  go  through  the  village  in  a  westerly  direction, 
and  then  turn  to  the  north.  In  about  ten  minutes  we  are  at 
the  obelisk  and  the  ruins.  Here  was  the  location  of  the  ancient 
On,  which  is  often  spoken  of  in  the  Scriptures.  This  was  one 
of  the  oldest  cities  in  the  country,  and  the  chief  place  for  sun 
worship,  wherefore  J eremiah  called  it  Beth-Schemesch,  the  Greek 
translation  of  which  is  Heliopolis,  which  means  the  City  of  the 
Sun  ( Jer.  43  :13).  Here  we  find  only  heaps  of  gravel  and  stones, 
and  these  heaps  indicate  where  the  old  walls  were  built.  They 
were  made  mostly  of  brick.  Here  among  these  ruins  is  an  obelisk 
of  red  granite,  brought  hither  from  Assuan.  This  is  66  feet 
high  above  the  pedestal.  Here  at  the  Temple  of  the  Sun  there 
were  a  great  many  such  obelisks,  but  they  have  been  taken  to 
other  cities,  such  as  Constantinople,  Rome,  London,  and  New 
York.  The  obelisk  which  stood  in  front  of  Ra’s  temple  was  built 
by  Usertasen  I,  during  the  twelfth  dynasty,  or  about  2500  B.  C. 
This  ancient  monument  is  surrounded  by  a  wooden  fence  and 
the  whole  looks  very  good  here  among  the  mulberry  trees.  The 


[446] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


same  writing  in  hieroglyphics  is  on  all  four  sides,  and  informs 
ns  that  King  Usertasen  I,  ruler  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  and 
the  son  of  the  snn,  erected  this  monument.  Here  at  the  Temple 
of  the  Sun  was  a  priestess,  Potipherah,  and  Pharaoh  gave  her 
daughter,  Asenath,  as  a  wife  to  Joseph  (Gen.  41:45).  When 
he  lived  here  this  obelisk  had  been  standing  for  a  thousand 
years.  I  stood  a  long  time  at  this  very  old  monument  and  I 
really  shivered  when  I  thought  of  its  age.  Here  it  has  been 
standing  for  4,500  years,  and  has  had  a  chance  to  witness  many 
changes  in  this  valley.  I  wonder  if  Joseph  went  into  this  temple 
to  be  married  to  his  bride  ?  Maybe  he  did.  One  thing  is  certain, 
and  that  is  that  Joseph  has  been  walking  around  these  precincts 
many  a  time,  and  his  eyes  have,  no  doubt,  been  resting  on  this 
red  pillar.  The  Sun  Temple  at  this  place  was  one  of  the  greatest 
in  the  country  of  Egypt.  We  get  an  idea  of  the  size  of  this 
temple,  when  we  remind  ourselves  that  during  the  time  of 
Rameses  III,  in  the  thirteenth  century  B.  C.,  this  sanctuary 
required  12,913  servants  and  sextons.  In  this  metropolis  a 
considerable  literature  saw  the  light,  and  the  priests  of  this 
temple  were  known  to  the  students  of  various  sciences.  Even 
in  the  Grecian  times  they  became  renowned;  Heliopolis  was 
still  a  seat  of  learning,  and  the  philosophers  came  to  this  place 
to  sit  at  the  feet  of  the  wise  priests.  Herodotus  and  Plato  came 
to  Heliopolis  to  drink  from  the  fountain  of  knowledge,  and 
it  is  said  that  the  latter  spent  thirteen  years  in  order  to  be  able 
to  bring  away  with  him  some  of  their  knowledge.  Next  in 
prominence  to  the  Temple  of  Ammon  at  Thebes  came  the  Temple 
of  the  Sun  here  at  On.  Strabo  visited  this  place  about  60  A.  D. 
Then  the  city  was  in  ruins,  but  the  temple  still  stood  there. 
The  house  of  the  priests  and  the  dwelling  place  of  Plato  were 
shown  at  that  time.  The  old  school  did  not  exist  then,  and  only 
some  priests  and  some  guides  for  the  tourists  were  then  to  be 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


found  here.  From  that  time  on  the  ruins  have  crumbled  more 
and  more,  and  now  there  are  only  heaps  of  bricks  and  gravel. 

Near  by  we  observe  how  oxen  and  asses,  by  means  of  wheels, 
were  drawing  water  from  wells.  This  runs  to  the  surrounding 
plantations  and  orchards.  It  was  so  very  still  this  morning. 
The  air  was  clear  and  warm  and  we  felt  that  w~e  were  in  a 
southern  climate.  If  at  any  place  we  can  see  how  destruction 
has  written  its  ‘ 4  mene,  mene  tekel,  ’ ’  we  see  it  here  at  the  old  On. 
Only  heaps  of  ruins  are  found  here,  and  this  is  all  that  is  left 
of  the  great  city,  and  from  these  ash  heaps  we  seem  to  hear  a 
whisper,  “All  is  vanity.”  There  is  only  one  thing  that  re- 
maineth  forever,  and  that  is  the  word  of  God. 

As  we  returned,  we  went  to  the  west  side  of  the  town,  and 
there  we  saw  the  well  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  At  this  well  is  a 
very  large  tree,  and  according  to  the  legend,  the  holy  Virgin 
and  her  child,  Jesus,  rested  underneath  this  tree  during  their 
flight  in  Egypt,  Another  legend  says  that  the  Virgin  and  her 
Son  hid  themselves  in  this  tree.  A  spider  spun  a  web  before  the 
opening,  and  in  this  way  they  escaped  the  danger.  That  is 
nothing  but  a  fabrication,  because  the  tree  was  planted  in 
1672  A.  D. 

Now  we  returned  to  the  station,  but  inasmuch  as  we  had 
a  few  minutes  left  before  the  train  arrived,  we  walked  to  an 
ostrich  farm  near  by.  It  cost  me  fifteen  piasters  to  be  admitted. 
There  are  about  800  ostriches  here  and  they  are  owned  by  some 
Frenchmen.  The  keeper  showed  us  around  and  it  was  a  very 
interesting  sight  to  watch  these  big  birds.  Some  were  very 
angry  and  hissed  as  we  stuck  our  hands  in  through  the  fence. 
Those  that  had  eggs  in  the  nests  were  ready  to  fight.  Along  a 
high  stair  we  came  up  on  the  roof  and  had  a  most  excellent 
view  of  the  vicinity,  where  the  old  On  was  located. 


[  448  ] 


i 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


At  about  twelve  o’clock  we  returned  to  Cairo,  and  in  the 
afternoon  went  out  to  see  the  pyramids;  but  as  we  came  to  the 
Nile  bridge  we  found  it  closed  because  of  the  many  boats  that 
sailed  down  the  river.  It  is  not  open  for  traffic  from  half  past 
two  to  three  o’clock  in  the  afternoon.  We  stood  a  long  time 
at  the  eastern  end  of  the  bridge.  From  that  point  I  saw  the 
pyramids  for  the  first  time.  It  was  rather  lonesome  to  stay  here 
so  long,  and  so  I  asked  my  guide  to  take  me  to  the  citadel.  On 
a  street  car  we  came  very  soon  to  the  foot  of  the  hill  on  which 
the  citadel  is  located.  I  paid  a  piaster  for  my  sandals  at  the 
door  and  walked  in.  To  the  right  of  the  door  is  the  sarcophagus 
of  Mohammed  Ali.  I  walked  around  in  this  building  for  some 
time,  and  found  that  they  had  not  spared  money  in  decorating 
the  interior  of  this  edifice.  We  walked  around  the  building  to 
the  southwest  side  and  from  here  we  had  a  very  good  view  of  the 
whole  vicinity.  Behind  us  were  the  Mokattam  Mountains,  from 
which  they  secured  building  material  for  the  pyramids.  There 
is  a  very  large  quarry  there.  Below  us  lay  the  city  of  Cairo,  and 
with  its  minarets,  parks,  towers  and  the  Nile  at  the  west  side, 
it  made  a  splendid  panorama.  On  the  Nile  we  saw  a  great  num¬ 
ber  of  vessels;  toward  the  edge  of  the  Libyan  desert  we  had  a 
good  view  of  the  pyramids.  I  counted  more  than  forty  of  them. 
The  clear  air  made  them  seem  very  near.  Down  on  the  plain 
we  saw  the  fellaheen  toiling  along  on  their  farms,  and  along 
the  banks  of  the  Nile  we  observed  well-filled  passenger  trains 
run  to  and  fro  in  this  populous  metropolis.  Towards  the  south 
we  beheld  palm  groves,  where  the  ancient  Memphis  used  to  be. 
Towards  the  north  the  obelisk  stood  out  clearly  at  On,  and 
towards  the  northeast  lay  the  desolate  desert. 

While  we  were  standing  on  this  citadel,  I  reminded  myself 
of  what  took  place  here,  March  1,  1911,  at  the  instigation  of 
Mohammed  Ali.  This  man  was  born  in  Cavalla  in  1769,  and 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


had  been  chosen  at  the  recommendation  of  the  French  consul, 
de  Lesseps,  to  counteract  the  influence  of  England  and  the 
Mameluks  in  Egypt.  He  was  the  officer  of  1,000  Albanian 
soldiers  here  and  was  an  able  man,  but  very  reckless  in  all  his 
actions.  When  he  had  disposed  of  his  enemies,  he  was  chosen 
Pasha  for  the  whole  country  in  1805,  and  captured  the  citadel 
on  the  third  of  August.  *  He  considered  the  Mameluks  to  be  a 
hindrance  to  the  proper  development  of  the  country,  and  re¬ 
solved  to  dispose  of  them  in  a  very  deceptive  manner.  He 
invited  them  to  a  festival,  and  they  came  in  gala  attire,  as  they 
thought  he  wished  to  consult  them  on  important  matters.  When 
he  had  entertained  them  and  they  were  about  ready  to  depart, 
they  found  the  gates  shut,  and  at  once  they  saw  their  situation 
and  fate.  A  killing  fire  was  opened  on  them  from  the  fortress, 
and  this  massacre  continued  until  all,  with  the  exception  of  one, 
Amin  Bey,  were  slain.  Four  hundred  and  eighty  were  killed. 
This  man  escaped  by  urging  his  horse  to  jump  down  through 
a  hole  in  the  wall,  and  he  and  his  horse  threw  themselves  into 
the  abyss.  The  horse  was  killed,  but  the  rider  escaped  with  his 
life.  As  I  looked  down  into  this  deep  abyss,  I  could  not  under¬ 
stand  how  he  could  escape  from  such  a  plunge.  What  a  crime ! 

Nevertheless  Mohammed  Ali  was  one  of  the  most  powerful 
rulers  in  recent  times.  He  was  the  man  who  made  improvements 
in  agriculture  and  introduced  the  cotton  plant  into  'Egypt. 
He  also  improved  the  canals,  appointed  Europeans  to  public 
offices,  and  sent  young  men  to  Paris  to  train  them  for  various 
occupations.  He  also  made  several  improvements  in  the  army. 
In  1831  he  intended  to  make  Egypt  independent  of  the  Turkish 
Sultan.  He  captured  Acre,  Damascus,  Aleppo  and  many  other 
places,  destroyed  the  Turkish  fleet,  and  intended  to  capture 
the  city  of  Constantinople.  Through  the  peace  in  Kutahia,  1833, 
Mohammed  Ali  received  Syria,  with  the  provision  that  he  must 

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THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


be  subservient  to  the  Sultan  of  Turkey.  He  was  obliged  to  pay 
an  annual  tribute  of  $2,060,000  to  the  Sultan,  and  to  reduce 
the  standing  army  to  18,000  soldiers.  This  powerful  ruler 
finished  his  career  in  1849  at  the  castle  Shubra. 

The  citadel  is  a  city  by  itself.  Here  are  the  castle  of  the 
Pasha,  an  arsenal  and  factories,  and  a  number  of  other  buildings. 
We  saw  a  very  deep  well  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  citadel. 
This  is  called  Bir  Yusuf,  the  Well  of  Joseph.  It  is  two  hundred 
and  ninety  feet  deep  and  is  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock,  eighteen 
feet  square.  My  guide  threw  a  stone  into  it,  and  it  took  a  long 
time  before  it  reached  water.  From  this  well  the  city  received 
its  water  before  the  present  waterwork  was  finished.  In  the 
twelfth  century,  when  they  began  to  build  here,  this  well  was 
filled  with  sand,  and  a  certain  Joseph  cleaned  it  out — hence  its 
name.  My  guide  said  with  a  smile  on  his  lip :  “  Here  in  this 
well  the  sons  of  Israel  threw  down  their  brother.  ” 

Returning  from  the  citadel,  I  walked  into  the  bazaars.  These 
are  really  stores  and  are  built  along  very  narrow  streets.  Accord¬ 
ing  to  the  custom  of  the  Orient  the  goods  are  made  here  in  the 
shops  and  sold  at  the  same  place.  These  bazaars  are  not  so 
large  as  they  are  in  Damascus.  Mondays  and  Thursdays  they 
are  visited  mostly.  Then  you  can  hardly  get  through  from 
place  to  place.  Here  they  sell  everything  that  one  may  need. 
Here  they  cheat,  and  they  consider  it  no  sin  or  shame  to  do  so, 
but  a  sign  of  smartness  and  good  business  ingenuity.  Here  they 
haggle  and  are  just  as  often  cheated. 

My  guide  did  not  satisfy  me  in  every  way,  so  I  gave  him 
his  pay  at  the  end  of  the  day  and  let  him  go.  Of  course  I  had 
to  give  him  bakschisch  besides. 

The  following  morning  I  went  out  to  see  the  Egyptian 
Museum.  This  museum  was  founded  by  Mariette  in  1857 ;  and 
here  he  gathered  things  of  interest  that  he  had  found  during  his 

[451] 


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excavations.  Later  on  Professor  Maspero  and  others  developed 
this  institution  in  a  most  wonderful  way.  Here  we  find  the 
greatest  collections  of  Egyptian  antiquities.  Whatever  of  value 
is  found  in  excavations  is  delivered  to  this  museum.  Mariette 
gathered  all  his  findings  in  a  house  on  the  island  of  Bulak,  and 
hence  it  is  sometimes  called  the  Bulak  Museum.  But  this  place 
proved  too  damp  and  the  location  too  small,  so  they  secured  an 
old  castle  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  and  here  the  antiquities 
were  kept  from  1889-1892.  Then  the  castle  was  torn  down  and 
a  suitable  building  was  erected  at  a  little  distance  from  the  Nile. 
The  present  curator  of  this  museum  is  Professor  G.  Maspero. 
Outside  of  the  building  is  a  statue  of  Mariette,  and  near  by  is  a 
sarcophagus  of  marble.  On  the  south  side  there  is  a  portico, 
and  this  is  supported  by  three  great  pillars.  To  the  right  of  the 
entrance  are  two  great  obelisks  of  Rameses  II  from  Tanis.  Within 
the  building  we  found  a  world  of  the  most  interesting  objects. 
Here  are  obelisks,  sarcophagi,  paintings  of  the  dignitaries  in 
the  land  of  the  Pharaohs,  idols,  weapons,  furniture,  wagons, 
jars,  manuscripts,  rolls  of  papyrus,  etc.,  etc.  Among  other 
things  I  saw  a  war  chariot  which  belonged  to  Thutmosis  III. 
This  had  only  two  wheels,  and  the  front  part  was  covered  with 
leather.  This  king  was  a  warrior,  built  a  great  deal,  and  ruled 
about  1600  B.  C.  There  was  something  that  interested  me  very 
much,  and  that  was  the  department  where  the  mummies  were 
placed.  There  were  three  mummies  which  I  particularly  wished 
to  see.  These  were  Seti  I,  his  illustrious  son,  Rameses  II,  and 
his  successor  on  the  Egyptian  throne,  Merenptah.  I  recognized 
them  at  once  from  pictures  which  I  had  seen  of  them  in  papers 
and  books.  I  was  wondering  if  it  were  all  a  dream  or  a  reality 
that  I  was  standing  face  to  face  with  the  ancient  Pharaohs  of 
Egypt. 


[452] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Perhaps  we  ought  to  recall  a  few  facts  regarding  the 
dynasties  of  Egypt.  An  Egyptian  by  the  name  of  Maneto,  a 
priest  at  Heliopolis,  wrote  a  history  of  Egypt  in  the  third  cen¬ 
tury  B.  C.  This  history  is  lost  and  only  certain  parts  of  it  are 
extant.  From  the  time  of  the  first  king  of  Egypt,  Mcnes,  who 
founded  Memphis,  to  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great  332-323) 
there  were  thirty-one  dynasties,  or  houses.  The  historic  period 
begins  about  3300  B.  C.  The  fourth  dynasty  (2850-2700)  is 
known  as  that  of  the  builders.  Kheops  and  Khephren  then  built 
the  great  pyramids  at  Gizeh.  The  nineteenth  dynasty  ruled 
from  1400  to  1280  B.  C.  Among  them  we  have  the  following 
kings :  Seti  T,  Rameses  IT,  and  Merenptah.  These  were  great 
warriors  and  builders  as  well.  Seti  carried  on  wars  with  the 
Libyans  and  Syrians.  His  wars  with  the  Hittites  are  well  known 
in  history.  As  a  builder  Seti  I  was  one  of  the  greatest  in  the 
world.  He  was  the  one  who  built  the  Hall  of  Columns  at  Thebes. 
This  king  cut  out  in  the  rock  a  tomb  for  himself,  and  this  is  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  among  the  royal  tombs  of  Egypt.  He  also 
began  to  dig  the  canal  which  united  the  river  Nile  with  the  Red 
Sea.  Rameses  II  was  also  a  prominent  king.  He  was  the  suc¬ 
cessor  of  Seti  I.  He  was  without  doubt  the  greatest  character 
among  the  kings  of  the  nineteenth  dynasty,  and  by  some  he  was 
considered  to  be  the  greatest  king  in  Egypt.  He  ruled  67 
years,  and  was  30  years  old  when  he  succeeded  his  father  to  the 
throne.  Some  consider  him  to  be  the  king  who  oppressed  the 
children  of  Israel  in  Goshen,  where  they  built  the  cities  Pithom 
and  Rameses.  lie  carried  on  wars  with  the  Hittites  (Khita), 
and  feared  that  they  might  unite  with  the  Syrians,  and  with  the 
help  of  the  Hebrews  in  Goshen  conquer  his  country.  This  was 
the  king,  then,  who  made  the  lives  of  the  Hebrews  bitter  with 
hard  bondage,  in  mortar  and  in  brick,  and  in  all  manner  of 
service  in  the  field  (Ex.  1:13-14).  It  was  his  daughter  who 


[  453  ] 


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found  Moses  among  the  reeds  by  the  shore  of  the  Nile.  In  this 
king’s  palace  Moses  was  instructed  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the 
Egyptians,  and  was  mighty  in  words  and  in  deeds  (Acts  7:21). 
Rameses  II  had  several  sons,  and  only  one  survived  him,  his 
successor,  Merenptah.  This  must  have  been  the  king  who  hard¬ 
ened  his  heart  against  the  Lord,  in  spite  of  all  the  miracles  per¬ 
formed  in  his  sight.  He  is  the  Pharaoh  who  saw  the  children  of 
Israel  depart  from  his  country.  With  Rameses  there  is  the 
beginning  of  a  decline.  He  reminds  us  very  much  of  King 
Louis  XIV  of  France.  “ After  him  came  the  deluge,”  and  his 
successor  found  it  out  to  his  great  dismay. 

Here  in  the  museum  of  Cairo  are  the  mummies  of  the 
above-named  kings,  side  by  side,  father,  son  and  grandson.  How 
wonderful  that  we  are  able  to  look  into  the  faces  of  these  kings 
after  about  3,500  years.  That  the  public  may  now  look  at  these 
mummies  is  due  to  the  following  circumstances.  The  tombs 
of  these  kings  are  at  Biban  El-Muluk,  but  for  a  long  time  these 
were  empty,  for  the  mummies  were  concealed  in  a  secret  place 
known  only  to  certain  Arabians.  How  this  place  was  discovered 
is  one  of  the  most  interesting  chapters  in  Egyptian  history, 
and  shows  how  these  mummies  were  saved  from  destruction, 
and  kept  for  the  museums.  As  soon  as  Professor  Maspero  dis¬ 
covered  that  mummies  were  sold  in  Upper  Egypt  to  tourists,  he 
organized  a  secret  police  squad.  Very  soon  some  were  arrested, 
but  no  one  knew  anything  about  these  mummies  or  their  secret 
hiding  place.  These  policemen  whipped  their  prisoners,  but  not 
one  divulged  anything.  Among  others  one  Mr.  Wilson  bought 
the  hand  and  the  head  of  a  mummy  from  one  of  the  four  Arabs 
who  used  to  guide  tourists  in  the  vicinity.  A  certain  Arab  was 
arrested  at  the  instigation  of  Professor  Maspero  and  kept  in 
prison  some  months.  They  whipped  him  and  threatened  him 
with  death,  but  his  mouth  was  dumb  as  the  sphinx.  From  his 


[454] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


lips  they  heard  no  more  than  from  the  hidden  grave.  His 
brother  Mohammed  was  offered  a  great  bakschisch,  and  behold, 
this  was  a  key  that  opened  up  all  hidden  mysteries.  Now  he 
confessed  where  the  mummies  were  to  be  found,  but  no  one 
until  this  day  has  ever  learned  how  these  brothers  had  found 
out  the  secret  place.  In  company  with  the  curator  of  the  Bulak 
Museum,  Emil  Brugsch  Bey,  the  Arab  went  to  Deir  El-Bahari 
and  showed  him  the  grave  where  the  mummies  were  concealed. 
Here  above  a  limestone  cliff  they  found  that  the  stones  were  so 
arranged  that  it  could  be  seen  that  the  hand  of  man  had  placed 
them.  Here  was  a  well  and  into  this  they  descended  forty  feet. 
At  the  bottom  of  this  they  found,  when  they  had  cleaned  out 
the  well,  a  passage  which  led  them  several  hundred  feet  into 
the  mountain,  and  behold,  at  the  end  of  this  they  found  a  cham¬ 
ber.  In  this  were  Rameses  II  and  forty  other  mummies  of  kings, 
queens,  priests  and  other  prominent  characters.  This  happened 
the  5th  of  July,  1881.  It  was  very  dangerous  to  bring  these 
mummies  to  Thebes,  but  by  the  help  of  300  Arabs  this  work  was 
done  in  six  days.  It  became  necessary  to  do  this  work  behind 
the  gun,  so  to  speak,  because  the  Arabs  were  aroused  when  their 
treasures  were  taken  from  them.  In  this  way  the  museum  at 
Cairo  secured  these  valuable  mummies.  The  public  have  seen 
pictures  of  them  and  know  how  they  look.  Seti  I  seems  almost  as 
dark  as  a  Negro.  This  is  due  to  the  medicines  used  at  the  em¬ 
balming.  The  features  are  still  so  clear  that  I  have  no  doubt 
but  that  his  former  subjects  would  recognize  him  if  they  could 
see  him  again.  The  statues  of  him  in  stone  are  also  well  made. 
He  is  represented  as  a  smiling  and  joyful  personality.  Right 
near  this  is  the  mummy  of  his  son,  Rameses  II.  There  we  see  his 
body  all  covered  up  in  linen  rags.  TIow  does  he  look?  Well, 
who  can  describe  him?  I  stood  there  for  a  long  time  and  have 
the  picture  very  clearly  in  my  mind,  but  I  wish  to  give  the  word 

[455] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


to  the  man  who  let  him  loose  from  his  bandages,  and  stood  face 
to  face  with  him  after  these  thousands  of  years.  Professor  Mas- 
pero  says:  “The  head  is  long  and  in  comparison  to  the  body 
small.  His  forehead  is  nearly  bare.  On  his  temples  are  some 
scattered  hairs,  but  it  is  very  thick  on  the  back  part  of  the  head, 
where  it  forms  smooth,  straight  locks  about  five  centimeters  long. 
The  hair  was  white  when  he  died,  but  it  has  been  colored  yellow 
by  the  drugs  used  at  the  embalming.  The  forehead  is  low  and 
narrow,  the  bone  of  the  forehead  is  very  prominent,  the  eye¬ 
brows  are  thick  and  white,  the  eyes  are  small  and  close  together. 
The  nose  is  long,  thin  and  crooked,  and  somewhat  crushed  at 
the  end  by  reason  of  the  pressure  of  the  bandages.  The  temples 
are  somewhat  sunken,  the  cheek  bones  are  very  prominent,  the 
ears  are  round  and  stick  out  from  the  head,  and  are  pierced 
as  the  ears  of  women  who  wear  earrings;  the  chinbone  is  coarse 
and  strong,  and  the  chin  is  very  prominent.  The  mouth  is  small, 
and  the  lips  are  thick,  and  in  between  them  is  a  kind  of  black 
pitch.  When  this  black  mass  was  cut  away  by  means  of  scissors, 
there  appeared  some  neat  and  beautiful  teeth,  which  were  white 
and  well  kept.  The  mustache  and  the  beard  is  thin.  It  seems 
as  though  he  had  shaved  them  off,  but  perhaps  he  let  them  grow 
during  his  last  sickness,  or  perhaps  they  grew  after  death.  The 
hairs  are  white  as  those  which  are  on  the  head,  but  stiff  and 
bristle-like,  and  from  two  to  three  millimeters  long.  The  skin 
is  of  an  earth-brown  and  blackish  nature.  At  least,  we  can  say 
that  the  mummy  gives  a  good  idea  of  the  face  of  the  living  king. 
The  face  is  not  intellectual,  perhaps  a  little  animal  in  it,  but  even 
under  this  peculiar  covering  of  the  mummy,  you  can  clearly  see 
the  attitude  of  the  royal  majesty,  of  determination  and  pride. 
The  upper  part  of  the  body  is  just  as  well  kept  as  the  head,  but 
because  of  the  contraction  of  the  nerves  the  outward  form  has 
become  less  living.  The  neck  is  not  any  thicker  than  the  spine. 

[  456  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


The  breast  is  wide,  the  shoulders  are  square,  the  arms  are  placed 
in  a  cross  over  the  breast,  the  hands  are  small  and  covered  with 
henna ;  the  wound  in  the  left  side,  through  which  the  embalmers 
removed  the  intestines,  is  large  and  open.  The  legs  and  hips 
are  large  and  without  any  flesh,  the  feet  are  small  and  long, 
with  somewhat  flat  soles,  and,  as  the  hands,  they  are  covered 
with  henna.  It  is  the  corpse  of  an  old,  but  powerfully  built  man. 
We  also  know  that  Rameses  II  ruled  for  67  years,  and  must  have 
been  nearly  one  hundred  years  old  wdien  he  died.” 

Near  by  this  mummy  lies  another  one,  who  in  lifetime  bore 
the  name  Nefret-ere  Mi-en-Mut.  She  was  the  queen  of  Rameses  II. 
The  coffin  resembles  the  form  of  a  woman,  and  here  the  eyes  of 
a  woman  are  looking  at  the  tourist.  The  lid  on  the  coffin,  which 
is  made  of  wood,  is  very  well  preserved.  When  this  is  removed 
you  see  the  face  of  a  woman  which  bears  the  traits  of  beauty 
and  nobility.  She  was  the  queen  at  the  court  where  Moses  was 
educated,  and  without  doubt  he  saw  this  face  many  a  time.  Is  it 
not  wonderful  that  the  king  and  queen,  and  her  father-in-law 
and  her  son  are  there  in  the  same  museum  and  within  glass  cases  ! 
It  must  have  been  very  beautiful  to  live  in  the  palace  of  this 
king,  and  yet  we  read  in  the  Scriptures  that  Moses  refused, 
having  grown  up,  to  be  called  the  son  of  Pharaoh’s  daughter, 
choosing  rather  to  suffer  affliction  with  God’s  people  than  to 
have  pleasure  in  sin  for  a  season,  esteeming  the  reproach  of 
Christ  greater  riches  than  the  treasures  in  Egypt,  for  he  had 
respect  unto  the  recompense  of  the  reward  (Heb.  11:24-26). 

Here  in  this  museum  are  so  many  things  of  interest  that 
one  cannot  look  them  over  satisfactorily  in  a  few  days.  But 
the  whole  does  not  leave  the  same  impression  as  the  museum  at 
Athens.  There  is  something  stiff  and  hard  in  the  Egyptian 
sculpture.  Here  we  do  not  find  the  neat  and  well-rounded  form 

[457] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


as  we  find  among  the  Greeks.  And  yet  you  observe  in  the  various 
works  of  sculptors  a  beauty  in  the  work  that  is  surprising.  We 
must  not  forget  their  standpoint  in  religious  matters.  Among 
the  ancient  Egyptians  we  find  a  depth  in  science  which  is  aston¬ 
ishing.  To  Egypt  came  the  wise  men  of  Greece  to  take  a  post¬ 
graduate  course,  and  yet  we  find  that  their  religion  was  of  such 
a  low  nature  that  they  worshiped  dumb  brutes  such  as  oxen, 
dogs,  cats,  birds  and  crocodiles.  Here  we  are  in  a  museum  where 
so  many  things  remind  us  of  how  far  advanced  they  were  in  the 
distant  ages.  They  have  done  things  that  compel  our  wise  men 
at  the  present  time  to  stand  with  admiration  and  place  their 
fingers  on  their  mouths  and  cry,  1  ‘  Mysterium,  mysterium !  ’  ’ 
We  only  need  to  mention  their  skill  in  embalming  dead  bodies. 
In  that  way  our  learned  men  have  not  come  as  far  as  they.  The 
Egyptians  placed  a  great  stress  on  science,  but  we  have  found 
that  the  dry  sciences  are  not  sufficient  for  man.  He  needs 
something  more.  We  need  the  true  religion  to  lead  and  guide 
us.  In  all  their  wisdom  the  Egyptians  bent  their  knees  to  dumb 
brutes.  These  thoughts  passed  through  my  mind  as  I  was  walk¬ 
ing  among  the  interesting  objects  in  the  museum  at  Cairo.  It 
was  a  sermon  to  me  that  we  should  not  build  on  science  alone. 
Let  no  one  think  for  a  moment  that  I  despise  science ;  it  would 
be  foolish  to  do  so.  But  there  are  a  great  many  who  are  satisfied 
with  science  alone,  and  care  nothing  for  the  word  of  revelation, 
the  guiding  star  to  eternal  bliss.  Our  help  is  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord,  in  the  living  gospel  which  He  gave  mankind.  Our  edu¬ 
cational  institutions  must  write  on  their  banners,  and  raise  them 
high,  that  our  salvation  does  not  come  through  men  with  a  well- 
developed  intellect,  and  the  salvation  of  our  church  will  not  be 
brought  about  by  “  learned  ”  preachers,  but  by  the  pure  and 
saving  gospel  of  the  Nazarene. 

[  458] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


These  thoughts  came  to  me  as  I  was  walking  around  in  this 
museum,  where  science  has  left  such  proofs  of  triumphs.  My 
visit  in  this  museum  I  shall  never  forget. 

Early  in  the  morning  I  secured  a  guide,  whose  name  was 
Essayed  Faid.  He  was  a  typical  Beduin  as  to  his  appearance, 
and  as  to  his  religion  a  Mohammedan.  We  went  to  Old  Cairo 
on  the  street  car.  This  part  of  Cairo  was  called  Babylon  for¬ 
merly,  and  here  is  a  fallen  wall  from  the  time  of  the  Romans. 
The  streets  are  narrow  and  dirty,  and  it  looks  as  though  we  had 
come  to  another  city.  Here  is  the  center  for  the  Copts,  and 
here  is  their  church,  Abu  Serge,  which  is  visited  by  a  great 
many  tourists.  This  sanctuary  is  very  old  and  its  crypt  is  said 
to  be  the  place  where  Mary  and  Jesus  kept  themselves  during 
their  stay  in  Egypt,  The  Copts  are  the  descendants  of  the  old 
Egyptians,  and  were  early  Christianized.  They  are  monophysites, 
i.  e.,  they  believe  that  Christ  has  only  one  nature,  the  divine. 
At  their  services  they  make  use  of  the  language  which  was  used 
in  Egypt  in  the  third  century.  The  priests  can  read  and  under¬ 
stand  it,  but  the  people  in  general  cannot.  The  Coptic  church 
has  not  developed  very  much  since  the  early  centuries.  It  is 
in  great  need  of  a  reformation,  a  regeneration  to  life  and  activity. 

There  are  about  609,000  Copts  and  they  are  scattered  about 
in  Upper  Egypt.  They  are  found  in  the  cities  mostly.  They  are 
watchmakers,  carpenters,  tailors,  clerks,  weavers,  turners,  and 
builders.  As  to  their  appearance  they  differ  from  the  Egyptian 
farmer  or  fellah.  The  Copts  are  not  so  strongly  built,  have 
smaller  hands  and  feet,  longer  neck  and  head,  and  are  lighter  in 
color  than  the  fellaheen.  In  everyday  life  they  can  easily  be 
detected  by  their  black  and  blue  turban  and  black  clothes  in 
general.  This  color  was  determined  upon  by  their  oppressors, 
and  they  still  keep  it  with  a  certain  pride.  An  active  missionary 
work  is  carried  on  among  them  by  certain  American  churches. 


[  459  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


They  have  established  schools  and  spread  books,  particularly 
the  Bible.  The  Franciscans,  who  also  have  carried  on  mission¬ 
ary  work  among  them,  have  been  less  successful.  Many  Copts 
are  well  versed  in  the  Bible,  and  it  is  said  that  they  know  whole 
gospels  by  heart. 

From  Old  Cairo  there  is  a  bridge  over  the  Nile  to  the  island 
of  Roda.  We  went  across  on  this  bridge,  to  the  western  bank 
of  the  river.  Here  at  the  southern  end  of  the  island  is  the  well- 
known  Nile  meter,  which  measures  the  water  of  the  river.  This 
meter  was  made  in  716  A.  D.  It  is  a  kind  of  cistern,  sixteen  feet 
in  diameter,  and  in  its  center  there  is  an  octagonal  pillar  on 
whose  sides  Arabic  figures  indicate  the  depth  of  the  water  in  the 
river.  The  24th  of  August,  when  the  water  reaches  its  height, 
the  embankments  are  opened,  and  water  is  let  in  on  the  land 
in  the  valley.  This  day  is  a  festive  day  for  the  Egyptian  fel¬ 
laheen,  and  is  celebrated  with  great  joy. 

From  this  place  we  came  to  the  other  side  of  the  river,  and 
we  took  another  street  car  for  the  pyramids.  During  this 
pleasant  journey  we  see  the  pyramids  before  us  all  the  time,  and 
the  nearer  we  come,  the  larger  they  seem  to  us.  The  Nile  Valley 
is  intersected  by  a  number  of  dykes,  and  in  these  there  are  a  great 
many  water  birds  swimming  around.  To  the  right  of  the  road, 
as  we  approach  the  pyramids,  there  is  a  kind  of  hotel  called 
Mena.  Right  near  this  place  is  the  end  of  the  car  line.  Here  are 
a  post  office  and  a  drug  store.  As  soon  as  we  came  out  of  the 
street  car,  the  mule-boys  became  very  lively  and  wished  us  to 
use  their  mules.  The  boys  cried  out:  “Good  donkey,  very  good 
donkey,  Yankee  Doodle,  Berliner  Esel,  jolie  bourrique,  besoin 
d  ’ane,  ’ ?  and  so  on  ad  infinitum.  My  guide  selected  a  large,  white 
donkey,  and  I  another  one  of  the  same  color  and  size,  and  then 
we  rode  to  the  plateau  where  the  pyramids  are  located.  Two 


[  460  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Arab  boys  followed  us  and  they  ran  about  in  the  desert  sand 
like  deer. 

From  the  plateau  we  had  a  splendid  view  of  the  valley. 
How  much  better  would  the  view  be,  if  we  could  climb  to  the 

top !  As  I  was  not  very  strong  I  did  not  endeavor  to  do  this. 

The  climbing  is  quite  strenuous  and  I  must  deny  myself  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  the  Nile  Valley  from  the  top  of  the  pyramid. 
We  rode  around  the  pyramids  a  long  while.  These 

pyramids  are  the  largest,  and  are  called  Gizeh ;  and 
this  group  is  one  of  the  five  which  belonged  to  the 

cemetery  of  Memphis.  This  is  called  Necropolis,  or  City 
of  the  Dead.  The  whole  stretch  between  the  Libyan  desert  and 
the  Nile  Valley  was  a  great  cemetery,  and  its  length  was  about 
20  miles.  We  are  at  the  northern  end  of  this  Necropolis.  These 
pyramids  are  sepulchral  monuments  and  go  back  of  the  historical 

I  times.  The  first  pyramid  which  we  reached  as  we  arrived  from 
Cairo  is  called  Kheops,  the  other  is  Khephren,  and  the  third  is 
Mencheres,  after  the  kings  who  built  them.  These  kings  belonged 
to  the  fourth  dynasty  and  ruled  between  2850-2700  B.  C.  To 
get  an  idea  of  the  size  of  these  gigantic  monuments  let  us  remind 
ourselves  that  the  largest  covers  an  area  of  thirteen  acres,  and 
each  side  is  740  feet  at  the  ground.  It  is  451  feet  high  •  and  has 
been  twenty  feet  higher,  but  its  top  is  torn  down.  There  is  at 
the  top  a  certain  woodwork  which  indicates  the  original  height. 
This  pyramid  alone  contains  10,000,000  cubic  feet  of  stone.  They 
made  a  roadbed  across  the  Nile  Valley,  and  it  took  ten  years  to 
make  this  elevated  road  from  the  Mokattan  Mountains.  The 
road  was  about  five  miles  long  from  the  Nile,  sixty  feet  wide  and 
at  some  places  forty  feet  high.  This  road  was  built  from  cut 
stones,  and  here  and  there  along  the  valley  you  can  see  traces 
of  it.  Herodotus,  who  visited  this  part  of  Egypt  in  450  B.  C., 
writes  that  it  took  400,000  men  twenty  years  to  erect  the  Kheops 

[461] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


pyramid.  On  the  outside  the  pyramids  were  covered  with  cut 
stones,  and  so  well  put  together  that  a  knife  could  not  be  placed 
between  the  crevices.  At  the  top  of  the  middle  pyramid  there  is 
a  little  bit  left  of  the  original  covering,  and  from  this  we  get  an 
idea  how  it  looked.  The  entrance  is  on  the  northern  side,  and 
about  fifty  feet  from  the  ground  The  passage  to  the  chambers 
within  is  four  feet  high  and  just  as  wide  Inside  is  the  king’s 
chamber  and  below  is  the  queen’s  There  have  been  several 
theories  presented  as  to  how  these  pyramids  were  built  Some 
believe  that  a  little  pyramid  was  erected  first,  and  then  several 
layers  were  added  on  the  outside,  and  this  looks  reasonable.  But 
for  what  purpose  were  they  erected  ?  The  answer  is  not  difficult. 
All  are  on  the  west  side  of  the  Nile,  the  region  of  darkness  and 
death.  In  these  pyramids  they  have  found  mummies  of  people, 
and  in  one  of  them  they  have  found  the  mummy  of  an  ox.  The 
pyramids  are,  then,  sepulchral  monuments,  erected  in  honor  of 
kings  and  other  dignitaries.  They  have  by  these  monuments 
and  the  mummies  signified  their  belief  in  the  immortality  of 
the  soul.  The  ancient  Egyptians  and  other  Oriental  nations 
believed  in  the  transmigration  of  souls.  According  to  this  belief, 
the  soul  was  brought  before  the  judgment  seat  of  Osiris.  The 
divinities  were  grouped  in  three,  Osiris,  his  wife  Isis,  and  their 
son,  Horus.  All  Egypt  worshiped  them.  The  king  and  the 
beggar  must  appear  before  the  same  tribunal  to  receive  reward 
or  punishment  according  to  his  deeds.  If  he  could  not  pass 
the  examination,  he  could  not  be  interred  among  his  relatives. 
If  there  was  anyone  who  wished  to  repent,  he  was  judged  at 
the  judgment  seat  of  Osiris  to  return  to  the  earth  and  there 
repent  in  the  bodies  of  certain  animals,  and  when  this  process 
was  ended,  he  was  permitted  to  return  to  his  own  body,  and  for 
this  reason  it  was  necessary  to  preserve  the  bodies  so  that  the 
soul  might  find  a  home  when  it  returned  after  its  transmigration. 


[  462  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


This  doctrine  of  transmigration  is  still  held  by  many  Oriental 
peoples.  Some  do  not  even  dare  to  kill  a  fly  or  a  bird,  becanse 
they  fear  that  the  soul  of  some  departed  relative  or  some  one 
else  may  be  in  this  insect  or  bird.  The  idea  of  some  of  our 
modern  heathens,  who  believe  that  we  hail  from  the  frogs  or 
some  other  creeping  things,  is  very  much  related  to  the  idea  of 
transmigration. 

Several  theories  have  been  brought  forth  relative  to  these 
pyramids.  Some  believe  that  Joseph  built  them  when  he  was 
in  the  prime  of  his  power,  and  the  name  Khufu,  which  is  found 
in  the  two  highest  chambers  in  the  pyramid,  is  said  to  be  the 
Egyptian  pronunciation  of  Joseph.  When  Israel  went  out  of 
Egypt  they  took  the  bones  of  Joseph  with  them,  and  this  would 
explain  why  the  sarcophagus  was  empty  in  the  royal  chamber. 
The  most  peculiar  theory  is  the  one  presented  by  Smythe,  the 
Professor  of  Astronomy  at  Edinburgh.  According  to  his  idea,  this 
pyramid  was  erected,  as  the  ark  of  Noah  and  the  temple  of 
Solomon,  under  the  guidance  of  God  and  His  inspiration,  for 
astronomical  purposes,  and  from  its  construction  one  can  de¬ 
termine  important  events  in  history,  such  as  Christ’s  return  to 
judgment,  etc.  Such  speculations  regarding  the  pyramids  are 
nothing  but  hypotheses,  but  nevertheless,  they  have  sought 
grounds  for  this  belief  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  On  this  large 
pyramid  they  have  applied  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  the  prophet, 
when  he  says:  “In  that  day  shall  five  cities  in  the  land  of  Egypt 
speak  the  language  of  Canaan,  and  swear  to  the  Lord  of  hosts. 
One  shall  be  called  the  City  of  Destruction.  In  that  day  shall 
there  be  an  altar  to  the  Lord  in  the  midst  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
and  a  pillar  at  the  border  thereof  to  the  Lord.  And  it  shall  be 
for  a  sign  and  for  a  witness  unto  the  Lord  of  hosts  in  the  land  of 
Egypt :  for  they  shall  cry  unto  the  Lord  because  of  the  oppres- 


[  403  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


sors,  and  he  shall  send  them  a  Saviour,  and  a  great  one,  and  He 
shall  deliver  them”  (Is.  19:18-20). 

I  stood  for  a  long  time  at  the  northeast  corner,  looking  up 
to  the  immense  height,  and  the  longer  I  looked  the  higher  it 
appeared  to  me.  They  generally  climb  up  along  this  corner. 
Here  I  saw  a  great  many  Arabs  rest  themselves  on  the  stair-like 
sides.  I  saw  a  tourist  who  endeavored  to  ascend  at  the  southeast 
corner,  but  he  had  to  give  it  up ;  he  climbed  for  awhile,  but  had 
to  return.  Some  were  standing  at  the  top,  and  they  appeared 
as  small  as  dwarfs. 

After  some  time  we  continued  our  ride  along  the  east  side 
and  wended  our  way  to  the  sphinx,  which  is  located  about  five 
minutes’  walk  to  the  southeast  of  the  Kheops  pyramid.  We  were 
followed  by  a  number  of  Arabs  who  wished  to  sell  us  antiquities, 
and  others  who  wished  to  sell  photographs.  Now  we  are  at  this 
monster,  which  not  long  ago  has  been  delivered  from  the  sands 
of  the  desert.  This  sphinx  looks  like  a  lion  with  a  human  face. 
It  has  not  been  cut  loose  from  the  rocks,  but  is  partly  cut  out 
from  a  rock  which  stuck  out  from  the  hillside.  We  get  an  idea 
of  the  size  of  this  when  we  note  that  from  the  head  to  the  paws 
there  is  a  distance  of  66  feet,  and  its  length  is  187  feet.  The  ear 
is  four  and  a  half  feet,  the  nose  five  feet  seven  inches,  and  the 
mouth  seven  feet  seven  inches.  The  face  is  thirteen  feet  eight 
inches  wide.  If  a  tall  person  stands  at  the  upper  edge  of  the 
ear,  he  will  with  his  finger  tips  reach  the  top  of  the  head.  Be¬ 
tween  the  paws  there  is  an  altar  and  before  the  breast  there  is 
another  one,  to  the  honor  of  Thutmosis  III.  Several  theories 
have  been  presented  regarding  this  very  ancient  monster.  One 
of  the  old  kings,  perhaps  Khephern,  is  said  to  have  made  it  to 
represent  himself.  Later  on  the  Egyptians  considered  this  as  a 
sungod,  which  with  its  smiling  countenance,  greeted  the  rising 
sun  beyond  the  Mokattan  Mountains.  Now  the  face  is  very 


[464] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


badly  damaged,  because  the  Arabs  have  used  it  as  a  mark  to 
shoot  at.  The  nose  and  the  beard  are  gone.  Although  the  face 
is  so  badly  damaged,  there  is  a  certain  majesty  and  nobility 
in  it.  The  eyes  appear  as  if  they  were  looking  into  the  unknown 
distance,  and  there  is  a  smile  on  the  lips.  As  a  watchman  this 
image  has  stood  there  from  the  gray  dawn  of  history.  It  was 
here  when  proud  and  populous  Memphis  sent  its  armies  forth 
into  the  world  to  conquer  its  enemies.  Here  it  stood  when 
Abraham,  the  father  of  the  faithful,  came  to  this  fruitful  valley, 
and  when  his  descendants  came  down  to  this  country,  serving 
as  slaves,  in  yonder  Goshen,  building  the  storehouse  cities, 
Rameses  and  Pithom.  Here  it  stood  when  the  20,000  cities  of 
the  land  of  Egypt  were  being  built.  It  has  seen  proud  Cambyses, 
king  of  the  Persians,  conquer  Egypt  in  525  B.  C.  Here  this 
sphinx  stood,  when  the  king  of  Macedonia,  Alexander,  founded 
the  city  of  Alexandria,  and  here  it  stood  when  the  Ptolemaeans, 
who  ruled  from  323  to  30  B.  C.,  carried  the  scepter  over  Egypt. 
Here  it  witnessed  the  conquest  of  the  country  by  the  Mohamme¬ 
dans  in  641,  and  here  it  has  observed  how  the  Mameluks  were 
brought  into  the  country  as  slaves,  and  then  served  as  soldiers. 
What  changes  in  the  history  of  this  land !  What  great  events 
have  not  taken  place  here;  and  this  sphinx  has  been  watching 
all  this  on  his  elevated  pedestal. 

About  150  feet  from  the  sphinx  is  a  granite  temple,  just 
recently  excavated,  and  is  called  the  temple  of  the  sphinx.  This 
was  discovered  by  Mariette  in  1853.  This  temple  is  built  of 
granite  and  is  very  well  preserved. 

I  have  seen  the  pyramids  and  the  sphinx,  and  now  we  must 
go  farther  on.  I  confess  that  it  was  very  difficult  to  tear  myself 
loose  from  this  place,  about  which  I  had  heard  so  much.  A  visit 
to  the  pyramids  reminded  me  very  forcibly  of  the  great  questions 


[  465  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


of  the  soul.  We  should  ever  mind  how  we  build  in  reference 
to  the  coming  eternity.  The  work  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  has 
stood  the  test.  How  shall  our  work  for  the  future  stand  the 
test?  What  kind  of  monuments  shall  we  erect  for  the  days  to 
come? 


Chapter  XXVI 


SAKKARA  AND  MEMPHIS 

THIS  time  we  are  going  through  Sakkara  to  Memphis.  My 
guide,  Said,  followed  me  on  this  highly  interesting  journey. 
Towards  the  west,  as  far  as  we  can  see,  there  is  sand,  sand,  noth¬ 
ing  but  sand.  The  whole  stretch  from  the  Gizeh  Pyramids  to 
Memphis  is  nothing  less  than  a  cemetery.  It  was  a  peculiar 
journey.  Everywhere  we  saw  pieces  of  bones,  or  parts  of  hands 
and  feet  stick  up  from  the  sand.  Who  can  count  how  many 
millions  are  slumbering  here  underneath  this  sand?  All  along 
the  plain  of  sand  there  are  pyramids,  now  and  then  we  see 
Beduins  watching  their  flocks  along  the  edge  of  the  valley  and 
sometimes  we  meet  tourists  riding  on  camels.  We  rode  on  white 
donkeys  and  the  boys  ran  behind,  urging  our  donkeys  onward 
with  their  whips.  These  boys  were  quite  merry,  and  it  was  a 
conundrum  to  me  how  these  boys  could  run  along  in  the  sand, 
as  they  did  all  day  long.  When  I  asked  them  if  they  were  not 
tired,  they  answered,  “We  are  used  to  it.”  Poor  boys!  They 
have  had  no  opportunity  to  educate  themselves,  and  for  this 
reason  they  will  have  to  be  mule  drivers  all  their  lives. 

Our  journey  in  the  desert  to  the  house  of  Mariette  proved 
to  be  very  tiresome.  This  house  is  located  way  out  in  Sakkara. 
This  prominent  Egyptologist  lived  here  on  the  edge  of  the  desert, 
while  he  made  his  investigations  in  this  great  cemetery.  We 
went  into  the  house  and  found  a  great  many  tourists  taking 
dinner.  The  house  of  Mariette  stands  in  a  very  interesting 
place.  About  six  hundred  feet  to  the  west  from  here  is  Serapium. 

[  467  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Here  we  find  subterranean  tombs,  in  which  the  ox  Apis,  dedi¬ 
cated  to  the  god  Ptah,  was  placed  in  a  stone  chest,  having  been 
regularly  embalmed.  Here  we  are  at  the  center  of  this  abomi¬ 
nable  Apis  worship.  Above  these  subterranean  tombs  a  temple  to 
the  honor  of  Osiris-Apis  was  erected,  whence  the  name  Serapeion. 
Here  we  took  our  dinner ;  then,  accompanied  by  my  guide,  Said, 
I  went  with  a  light  in  my  hand  into  these  subterranean  vaults, 
where  people  and  oxen  have  found  their  last  resting  place.  Some 
of  these  subterranean  passages  formed  a  circle,  along  the  cir¬ 
cumference  of  which  the  bodies  were  placed  in  sarcophagi. 
These  sarcophagi  were  very  well  made  and  manifest  a  great  care 
of  their  dead.  To  me  it  appeared  almost  hideous  to  pass  along 
these  lonely  passages.  The  dead  were  not  here  any  more,  though, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  cases  where  the  tombs  had  not  been 
plundered.  Among  others  I  visited  one  which  was  particularly 
light  and  beautiful.  The  light  came  in  from  above,  and  on  the 
walls  were  images  of  oxen,  birds  and  human  beings.  The  paint¬ 
ing  on  the  marble  wall  was  as  plain  as  though  it  had  been  done 
yesterday.  Think  of  the  work  that  they  have  done  here !  In 
these  subterranean  vaults,  as  well  as  on  the  obelisks  and  in  the 
temples,  there  are  a  great  many  of  these  hieroglyphs,  the  language 
of  the  old  Egyptians.  For  centuries  this  language  was  a  sealed 
book,  and  desperate  attempts  were  made  to  find  the  key  to  it, 
but,  as  it  seemed,  all  in  vain.  During  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries  many  learned  men  endeavored  to  explain 
this  writing  but  without  any  results.  The  renowned  Jesuit, 
Athanasius  Kirshner  (1601-1680)  was  one  of  those  who  studied 
this  hard  problem.  In  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century 
some  headway  was  made.  The  Englishman,  Young,  the  Swede, 
Okerblad,  and  the  Frenchman,  Sassey,  worked  diligently  on 
this  problem  of  solving  the  hieroglyphics,  and  succeeded  quite 
well.  It  was  the  Frenchman,  Francois  Champlonion  who  found 


[468] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


the  key  to  this  script ;  in  1822  he  discovered  the  alphabet.  With 
the  aid  of  the  Rosetta  Stone  the  riddle  was  solved,  and  proved 
to  be  one  of  the  great  triumphs  of  science.  This  stone,  found  in 
1799  at  the  fortress  of  St.  Julian,  at  the  Rosetta  branch  of  the 
Nile,  near  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  is  now  preserved  in  the  British 
Museum.  We  have  already  spoken  of  this  discovery.  The  first 
step  in  solving  the  mystery  of  the  hieroglyphic  writings  was 
taken  when  they  understood  that  these  signs,  which  are  enclosed 
in  so-called  cartouches,  were  names  of  kings.  Now  if  the  name 
of  Cleopatra  was  found  in  one  group,  for  instance,  then  one 
character  must  signify  l  and  another  r.  Now  if  we  compare 
this  group  of  hieroglyphics  with  another  one  which  possibly 
represents  Alexander,  then  the  same  letters  must  be  found  in 
this  group,  too.  And  behold  this  was  the  case.  In  this  way  they 
found  the  letters  l  and  r.  Champollion  had  discovered  the  key 
to  the  riddle  and  now  one  letter  after  another  was  found.  Mr. 
H.  Brugsch  was  the  one  who  discovered  that  in  conformity  to 
other  Semitic  languages,  no  vowels  were  used,  only  consonants. 
With  the  aid  of  the  Coptic  language,  a  daughter  language  to  the 
old  Egyptian,  they  proceeded  to  the  solution  of  the  problem,  so 
that  we  now  can  read  the  hieroglyphic  writing  nearly  as  readily 
as  the  Hebrew.  The  faithful  work  of  the  scientists  was  crowned 
with  success.  What  was  considered  an  absolute  impossibility 
for  centuries  is  now  done  very  easily.  The  old  Egyptian  monu¬ 
ments  and  tombs  open  up  their  secrets,  and  we  now  read  the 
language  of  the  ancient  Pharaohs.  Wonderful  things  have  been 
accomplished  during  the  last  century!  We  left  the  house  of 
Mariette  and  rode  in  a  southeasterly  direction,  passing  by  the 
Stair  Pyramid.  The  sides  of  this  monument  resemble  a  stair. 
This  is  the  boundary  line  of  Sakkara.  Here  is  the  grave  of  King 
Zosers,  built  during  the  third  dynasty.  This  is  196  feet  high, 
and  is  built  from  smaller  limestone  blocks. 


[  469  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Now  we  come  into  the  real  Necropolis  of  Sakkara,  and  this 
is  about  four  and  a  half  miles  long  and  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide. 
A  little  before  we  came  to  the  Stair  Pyramid,  we  were  shown 
the  cemetery  where  they  have  found  mummies  of  cats  and  ibis 
birds.  In  this  cemetery  the  spade  has  been  used  most  diligently, 
and  everywhere  we  observe  pieces  of  bones  sticking  up  out  of  the 
sand.  On  this  plain  we  found  a  high  roadbed.  Along  the  road 
we  observed  beautiful  palm  groves  in  whose  shadow  the  cattle 
found  a  much  needed  shelter  from  the  sun.  Now  we  came  in 
on  the  plain  where  the  ancient  Memphis  was  located. 

If  it  were  not  for  the  immense  cemetery  at  the  western 
boundary  of  the  Nile  Valley,  we  could  hardly  realize  that  the 
most  populous  and  prominent  city  in  ancient  times  was  located 
here.  Menes,  the  first  historic  king  of  Egypt,  is  spoken  of  as 
the  founder  of  this  city.  Here  and  there  we  saw  ruins  of  fallen 
buildings.  The  prominent  part  of  this  city  seems  to  have  been 
located  wdiere  the  villages  Bedrashein  and  Mit  Rahineh  are 
found.  At  the  last  named  place  there  is  a  great  palm  grove 
about  the  miserable  houses.  A  little  distance  toward  the  south¬ 
east  from  the  village  Mit  Rahineh  are  two  statues  of  Rameses  II. 
The  first  was  discovered  by  Caviglia  and  Sloane  in  1820.  This 
one  is  found  inside  of  walls  made  of  sun-dried  clay,  and  above 
its  middle  they  have  erected  a  kind  of  bridge,  to  which  we  came 
on  a  little  stair.  From  this  place  you  can  look  down  upon  the 
colossal  statue.  This  is  made  of  limestone,  and  is  forty  feet 
high.  The  artificial  beard  is  placed  on  the  chin,  and  in  the  belt 
is  a  dagger  with  two  falcon  heads.  Right  by  this  statue  we  find 
some  fragments  with  the  name  of  Rameses  II.  Not  far  from  this 
statue  is  another  which  was  discovered  in  1188.  This  is  made 
of  granite,  is  placed  on  an  elevation,  and  is  only  twenty-five 
feet  long;  with  the  crown  it  is  six  and  a  half  feet  longer.  The 
name  of  the  king  is  inscribed  on  the  shoulders,  the  girdle  and 

[470] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


bracelet.  On  the  left  side  of  the  statue  is  a  little  image  of  the 
princess,  Ben  Anat.  Right  here  where  these  statues  were  found 
was  the  heart  of  the  ancient  Memphis,  which  in  the  Bible  is 
called  Noph.  Isaiah  says:  “The  princes  of  Zoan  are  become 
fools,  the  princes  of  Noph  are  deceived;  they  have  also  seduced 
Egypt,  even  they  that  are  the  stay  of  the  tribes  thereof” 
(Is.  19 :13).  The  prophet  spoke  of  the  suppression  of  the  people, 
and  behold,  it  was  suppressed,  and  the  great  capital  with  all  its 
pomp  and  glory  was  sunk  down  in  the  earth.  Memphis,  or  as  it 
was  called  in  the  old  Egyptian  language,  Men-Nufer,  was  the 
seat  of  the  monarchs  for  a  long  succession  of  years.  Here  Joseph 
lived  and  served  as  governor,  and  in  this  city  the  Pharaohs 
lived  while  Israel  was  in  Egypt.  The  sediments  of  the  Nile, 
gathered  during  thousands  of  years,  now  rest  over  the  proud 
city,  and  palm  trees  are  waving  their  crowns  over  the  ruins 
where  the  mighty  seat  of  Osiris  stood.  Only  smaller  fragments 
are  now  left  of  the  old  temple,  which  was  the  principal  glory 
of  the  city  of  Memphis.  The  words  of  the  prophecy  regarding 
this  city  has  been  literally  fulfilled:  “I  will  destroy  the  idols, 
and  I  will  cause  their  images  to  cease  out  of  Noph;  and  there 
shall  be  no  more  a  prince  of  the  land  of  Egypt :  and  I  will  put 
a  fear  in  the  land  of  Egypt”  (Ez.  30:13-18).  How  many  citi¬ 
zens  there  were  in  Noph  when  the  city  was  at  its  height  cannot 
be  determined  now,  nor  will  this  number  ever  be  known,  and 
still  less  can  we  find  out  how  many  were  carried  across  the  lake 
and  found  their  last  resting  place  in  Necropolis.  Some  have 
supposed  that  about  25,000,000  slumber  in  the  oldest  and  greatest 
cemetery  in  the  world.  A  great  throng ! 

In  the  afternoon  we  started  back.  It  was  dark  when  the 
train  rolled  in  at  the  station  in  Cairo.  I  had  seen  a  great  deal 
of  this  interesting  city,  and  on  the  28th  of  October  I  was  ready 

[471] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


to  continue  my  journey  to  Alexandria.  I  did  not  leave  Cairo 
without  a  certain  regret,  as  here  are  many  things  of  interest  to 
observe,  many  things  to  study,  and  here  I  had  had  an  occasion 
to  look  into  Egyptian  history  as  at  no  other  place.  Here  is  a 
rich  territory  for  study. 


[472] 


Chapter  XXVII 


FROM  CAIRO  VIA  ALEXANDRIA  TO  NAPLES 

IT  was  early  in  the  morning  when  I  boarded  the  train  that 
should  take  me  to  Alexandria.  Our  train  takes  ns  very 
quickly  down  to  the  Delta,  and  here  we  can  obtain  an  idea  of 
how  the  Egyptian  fellaheen  live  on  this  plain.  Here  and  there 
along  the  road  long  caravans  march,  and  now  and  then 
we  see  an  ox  and  an  ass  work  at  the  waterwheel.  In  this  way 
they  send  the  water  out  on  the  plains  from  the  wells.  Along  the 
plain  we  see  now  and  then  a  miserable  looking  hut  made  of  sun- 
dried  clay,  and  roof  of  straw  and  hay.  It  is  the  home  of  the 
Egyptian  farmer.  It  is  very  plain.  Only  a  jar  of  water,  a  pot, 
and  some  other  things — that  is  all  you  will  find  in  this  plain 
home.  We  must  not  mention  anything  about  the  vermin  found 
therein.  Poor  people ! 

Along  this  rich  valley  we  soon  arrive  at  Tanta,  a  city  with 
something  like  60,000  inhabitants,  and  located  between  the 
Rosetta  and  Damietta  branches  of  the  Nile.  Here  is  a  chief 
seat  for  the  Mohammedans ;  it  is  a  kind  of  Mecca,  and  in  the 
month  of  July  they  celebrate  great  festivities  there,  when  about 
half  a  million  people  gather  to  celebrate  the  festival  of  Ahmed 
el-Bedawis.  This  man  was  born  in  the  twelfth  century,  and 
having  made  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  settled  here.  A  mosque  is 
erected  to  his  honor,  and  great  throngs  gather  to  celebrate  this 
festivity  in  a  most  licentious  manner.  On  the  altar  of  the  lusts 
they  sacrifice  thousands  of  dollars,  and  become  regular  spend¬ 
thrifts.  Here  is  the  residence  of  the  Khedive,  and  there  are  a 


[473  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


great  many  beautiful  residences  here.  At  the  station  we  saw 
great  heaps  of  cotton,  grain  and  other  products,  waiting  to  be 
exported  to  foreign  lands.  Egypt  is  still  a  granary,  the  land  is 
very  fruitful,  and  water  is  flowing  around  in  the  dikes,  where 
we  see  sail-boats  moving  around.  The  uniformity  of  the  plain 
was  broken  by  palm  groves  and  orchards. 

In  a  short  while  we  arrived  at  the  shores  of  Lake  Mariotis. 
The  railroad  follows  the  shore  for  quite  a  distance  before  we 
come  to  Alexandria.  In  ancient  times  its  shores  were  almost 
covered  with  villas.  This  land  was  very  fruitful,  and  Horace 
and  Yirgil  praise  the  wine  which  was  made  here.  During  the 
Middle  Ages  this  lake  dried  up.  When  the  English  besieged 
Alexandria  in  1801,  they  opened  the  canal  at  the  Mediterranean 
Sea  at  Aboukir,  let  in  the  water,  and  in  this  way  destroyed  one 
hundred  and  fifty  villages.  The  lake  covers  seventy  thousand 
acres  at  present,  although  Mohammed  Ali  did  all  he  could  to 
restore  the  land  for  cultivation.  The  present  Khedive  is  en¬ 
deavoring  to  occupy  the  land  for  cultivation  even  to  the  Libyan 
desert.  This  part  of  the  land  is  inhabited  by  Beduins,  who  live 
by  agriculture  and  cattle  raising. 

At  half  past  ten  we  were  at  the  station  at  Alexandria.  The 
agent  at  Cairo  had  informed  Cook  &  Son  about  my  arrival  in 
Alexandria.  Their  representative  met  me  here,  and  took  good 
care  of  me  during  my  stay  in  that  city.  My  stay  here  was  not 
very  long,  but  I  did  my  best  to  see  as  much  of  this  historic  city 
as  I  could.  Alexandria  is  located  on  the  small  neck  of  land  on 
whose  northwestern  side  extends  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and 
on  the  southeastern  side  is  Lake  Mareotis.  The  city,  which 
numbers  362,750  inhabitants,  has  an  excellent  location  for  a 
business  center.  There  are  about  forty-six  thousand  Europeans 
here,  most  of  them  Greeks  and  Italians.  These  have  their  quar¬ 
ters  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  city. 


[474] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


There  are  two  harbors  here,  the  eastern  and  the  western. 
These  are  protected  by  artificial  walls,  and  here  the  ships  find 
protection.  Alexandria  was  founded  by  Alexander  the  Great 
in  331,  while  he  was  carrying  on  war  here  in  Egypt.  The  clear¬ 
sighted  Macedonian  intended  to  make  this  city  a  central  point 
for  the  Oriental  trade,  and  it  is  still  the  greatest  merchant  city 
in  Africa.  Napoleon  saw  at  once  the  significance  of  Alexandria 
as  a  base  for  his  operations  in  his  campaigns  in  the  East.  The 
architect  of  the  city  was  the  competent  Deinocrates,  the  same 
man  who  built  the  renowned  Diana  Temple  at  Ephesus.  For 
centuries  this  city  was  the  seat  of  riches,  science  and  power. 
When  Alexander  died,  his  kingdom  was  divided,  and  Ptole- 
maeus  I  (323-285  B.  C.)  became  his  successor  in  Egypt.  During 
his  reign  Alexandria  became  a  resort  for  artists  and  men  of 
science.  Here  we  find  the  orator,  Demetrius,  the  painter,  Apelles, 
the  mathematician,  Euclid,  and  the  physician,  Erosistratus. 
Ptolemaeus  founded  the  renowned  museum,  which  became  a 
resort  for  learned  men.  During  the  time  of  his  successor,  Ptole¬ 
maeus  Philadelphus  (285-247),  the  Old  Testament  was  trans¬ 
lated  from  Hebrew  into  Greek.  This  was  done  in  the  following 
manner:  Seventy  Jewish  rabbis  were  closed  up  each  one  in  a 
cell  on  Tarus,  an  island  on  the  Nile,  and  translated  the  Old  Testa¬ 
ment  books  in  seventy  versions,  and  when  they  compared  them 
with  one  another,  they  were  found  to  be  exactly  alike.  This 
translation  has  been  called  Septuagenta.  This  was  the  trans¬ 
lation  in  use  at  the  time  of  our  Saviour.  Here  they  founded 
a  very  comprehensive  library.  It  is  said  that  there  were  four 
hundred  thousand  volumes  in  it  already  in  the  time  of  Ptole¬ 
maeus.  The  king  wished  to  have  the  Old  Testament  translated 
for  this  library.  When  it  was  burned  by  Emperor  Theodosius 
and  his  bishop,  Theophilus,  it  numbered  900,000  volumes.  There 

[475] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


is  a  legend  that  Omar  burned  it  in  the  year  640,  but  this  has  not 
been  found  to  be  in  accordance  with  facts. 

At  this  place  Cleopatra  and  the  Caesars  ruled  in  their 
splendor  and  glory.  At  the  mouth  of  the  Nile  there  was  an 
island  by  the  name  of  Pharos,  which  was  united  with  the  main¬ 
land  by  the  so-called  Hepta-Stadion.  At  the  east  end  of  this 
island  was  the  lighthouse  Pharos,  which  was  551  feet  high. 
This  was  erected  by  Ptolomaeus  Philadelphus  and  was  con¬ 
sidered  one  of  the  seven  wonders  of  the  world.  The  fire  which 
was  burning  at  its  top  threw  its  light  about  a  hundred  miles 
over  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  Sostratus  served  as  architect  for 
this  lighthouse. 

Christianity  was  brought  to  this  city  very  early.  It  is 
supposed  that  Mark  was  the  first  Christian  bishop  here,  and 
here  he  became  a  martyr.  The  Christian  church  at  this  place 
had  many  prominent  teachers  during  the  early  centuries.  Here 
we  have  Clemens  Alexandrinus  (220)  and  Origen  (254),  both 
leading  men  in  the  school  of  Alexandria.  This  school  had  re¬ 
ceived  its  special  tendency,  called  Gnosticism,  from  the  school 
of  Philo  and  Neoplatonism.  They  laid  special  stress  upon  this 
tendency.  Here  we  have  also  the  powerful  champion  for  ortho¬ 
doxy,  Athanasius  (373)  and  his  opponent,  Arius.  During  the 
persecutions  the  Christians  suffered  great  hardships.  Alexandria 
has  also  its  catacombs  from  that  time,  but  they  have  been 
changed  into  stone  quarries.  A  visit  to  that  place  is  hardly 
worth  while. 

Here  we  have  the  old  pillars  of  Pompey,  the  oldest  relic  in 
the  city,  a  hundred  feet  high.  Here  stood  the  obelisks  of  Cleo¬ 
patra.  One  of  them  was  brought  to  London  in  1878.  The  other 
one  was  brought  to  New  York  in  1880,  where  it  is  still  standing. 
Removed  from  its  home  country  to  another  climate,  this  obelisk 

[  476] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


seems  to  be  subject  to  a  process  of  erosion,  and  may  be  damaged 
in  the  course  of  time. 

I  walked  around  a  great  deal  along  the  streets  to  get  an 
idea  of  this  ancient  metropolis.  At  the  wharf  I  saw  how  the 
raging  storm  brought  foaming  waves  towards  the  shore.  They 
had  built  a  wall  of  stone  along  the  coast  as  a  protection  against 
the  waves.  The  houses  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  city  were 
quite  near  the  shore.  Here  I  sat  for  a  long  time,  watching  the 
billows.  In  a  few  hours  I  was  destined  to  cross  this  sea  on  my 
way  to  Italy.  The  life  on  the  streets  in  Alexandria  is  of  an 
Oriental  nature.  Yet  we  observe  the  European  influence  every¬ 
where  in  the  city, — in  the  stores,  workshops,  and  the  private 
dwelling  places.  There  is  very  little  left  of  the  ancient  city. 
The  old  has  passed  away  and  upon  the  ruins  a  new  city  has 
risen.  Here  and  there  we  observe  parts  of  the  early  buildings, 
such  as  Serapium,  the  Temple  of  Serapis.  At  that  time  this 
was  the  greatest  building  in  the  world  with  the  exception  of  the 
Roman  Capitol. 

Tired  because  of  my  many  wanderings  in  the  city,  I  went 
to  Thomas  Cook  &  Sons  to  take  care  of  my  baggage  and  take 
it  to  the  boat.  This  was  the  best  that  I  could  do,  as  there  are 
so  many  things  to  do  before  one  departs  from  the  country.  I 
must  secure  a  physician’s  testimony  that  I  was  well  and  did 
not  carry  any  sickness  to  the  boat.  Then  we  must  have  per¬ 
mission  from  the  authorities  to  leave  the  country,  and  I  do  not 
know  how  many  places  we  must  visit.  The  whole  thing  cost  me 
only  five  francs,  and  this  was  certainly  reasonable.  I  wish  to 
advise  others  to  do  the  same,  namely  to  deliver  yourself  in  the 
hands  of  Thomas  Cook  &  Sons,  and  they  will  take  good  care  of 
you. 

I  came  to  the  boat  in  time.  The  steamer  belonged  to  an 
Italian  steamship  company,  and  was  anchored  at  the  western 

[  477] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


harbor.  This  is  quite  a  distance  from  the  office.  I  went  aboard 
the  steamer  for  the  last  time  in  Egypt,  and  I  felt  very  pleased 
that  I  had  left  the  Turks  and  their  police  escort.  It  is  very 
interesting  to  travel  in  these  countries,  but  you  are  always  re¬ 
quired  to  show  your  passport,  or  tesquere,  as  though  you  were 
up  to  mischief  all  the  time.  But  it  is  much  easier  to  travel  in 
Egypt  than  in  Turkey  proper. 

In  the  afternoon  at  three  o’clock  our  boat  steamed  out  of 
the  harbor.  It  was  the  23rd  of  October.  We  steam  along  be¬ 
tween  a  number  of  smaller  boats,  and  we  have  to  the  right  the 
great  lighthouse.  But  this  is  not  the  old  Pharos.  This  has  been 
buried  under  the  billows  for  a  long  time.  The  one  now  in  use 
has  been  built  quite  recently.  As  soon  as  we  came  outside  of  the 
harbor  Orione  began  to  roll  a  little.  It  looked  to  be  quite  large 
at  the  wharf,  but  it  seemed  very  small  now.  The  wind  was  with 
us,  and  this  was  a  great  help. 

My  journey  in  the  land  of  the  Pharaohs  was  ended,  and  a 
very  interesting  one  it  had  been.  There  is  Alexandria  along 
the  coast,  and  to  the  right  the  Libyan  desert  is  extending  towards 
the  southwest.  It  did  not  take  long  before  the  coastline  of  Africa 
with  the  lively  coast  town,  Alexandria,  sank  beneath  the  waves. 
The  last  glimpse  we  saw  was  the  top  of  the  lighthouse,  and  then 
we  were  out  on  the  wide  and  open  ocean.  Farewell,  thou  land 
of  the  Pharaohs;  thou  hast  also  thy  Biblical  memories,  since 
within  thy  boundaries  the  chosen  people  dwelt,  and  through 
their  leaders  God  made  signs  and  wonders.  Thy  monuments 
shall  to  the  end  of  time  bear  a  faithful  testimony  of  the  truth¬ 
fulness  of  the  Scripture,  and  long  sealed  graves  have  already 
delivered  their  dead,  which  in  their  own  way  shall  bear  testimony 
of  the  truth  of  God’s  word.  At  the  present  time  we  observe 
the  great  need  of  the  gospel  truth  for  the  oppressed  people  of 
the  Nile  Valley. 


[478] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


The  farther  we  came  out  on  the  ocean,  the  stronger  became 
the  storm.  I  sat  on  the  deck  until  darkness  set  in,  and  beheld 
how  the  waves  were  rolling  on  the  blue  deep  waters,  while  our 
Orione  worked  its  way  on  the  wide  expanse  in  the  dark  evening. 
As  I  did  not  feel  very  well,  I  went  to  bed  early.  My  room¬ 
mate  on  the  boat,  whom  I  had  never  met  before,  a  German  en¬ 
gineer,  was  traveling  through  the  world.  He  came  from  India 
and  was  going  to  Mexico.  In  many  ways  he  was  a  pleasant 
personality,  but  sadly  enough  a  freethinker.  I  did  not  dispute 
with  him,  as  I  well  knew  that  it  was  not  worth  while.  At  one 
time  he  said  that  there  were  so  much  unreasonable  things  in 
Christianity.  I  retorted  that  there  was  much  more  unreason¬ 
ableness  in  rationalism  than  in  Christianity,  and  then  he  kept 
quiet.  The  following  day,  October  29,  the  storm  had  subsided 
somewhat,  and  later  on  in  the  day  it  was  almost  a  calm.  At 
dinner  there  were  a  good  many  tourists  and  the  tables  were  all 
occupied,  but  the  passengers  were  very  pale  from  seasickness. 

At  three  o’clock  in  the  afternoon  the  island  of  Crete  comes 
within  our  horizon,  and  we  pass  along  its  coast,  not  very  far 
from  the  shore.  This  island  appeared  to  be  very  mountainous, 
and  was  much  like  the  Grecian  islands.  Here  we  are  reminded 
that  Titus  was  bishop  among  the  Cretans.  The  Apostle  Paul 
placed  him  there  to  tend  to  the  needs  of  the  church.  Paul’s 
letter  to  this  bishop  is  a  most  excellent  epistle,  which  he  wrote 
shortly  before  his  death  in  Rome  in  the  year  67.  The  people  on 
this  island  must  have  been  very  ungodly,  as  he  describes  their 
spiritual  condition  by  quoting  what  one  of  their  prophets  had 
said:  “The  Cretans  are  always  liars,  evil  beasts,  slow  bellies” 
(Tit.  1:12).  When  the  apostle  was  sent  to  Rome  after  his  cap¬ 
tivity  for  two  years  at  Caesarea,  he  passed  by  this  island,  just 
about  where  our  steamer  is  plowing  the  billows  with  the  same 
goal  as  we  have — Rome.  He  sailed  by  the  eastern  end  of  the 


[  479  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


island  and  along  the  southern  side  until  he  came  to  Beautiful 
Havens.  A  little  farther  on  is  the  island  of  Claudia,  and  at 
the  southwestern  end  of  Crete  the  city  of  Phoenix.  From  this 
place  he  was  brought  by  a  strong  wind  in  an  Alexandrian  vessel 
called  Euroclydon,  westward  on  the  Mediterranean  Sea  over 
about  the  same  course  as  our  boat  is  now  taking.  It  was  about 
the  same  time  of  the  year  that  Paul  sailed  along  these  waters 
(Acts  27). 

The  sea  was  very  calm,  and  I  sat  on  the  deck  watching  my 
fellow  passengers.  It  was  a  mixed  crowd  of  Italians,  French¬ 
men,  and  Mohammedans  from  Syria,  who  were  on  their  way  to 
South  America,  and  a  few  Germans.  On  the  whole  it  was  a  very 
pleasant  company.  There  were  many  Italian  priests  and  monks 
with  Petrian  tonsure,  who  were  walking  around  on  the  deck  in 
their  coarse  looking  garments,  with  a  rosary  and  a  cross  at  their 
side.  Some  were  reading  their  prayer  books  very  faithfully. 

When  I  arose  in  the  morning,  October  30th,  the  sea  was 
very  calm.  The  blue  surface  of  the  Mediterranean  was  very 
beautiful.  Later  on  in  the  day  the  storm  began  to  roar,  and  in 
the  afternoon  the  sea  was  very  unruly.  I  kept  myself  in  the 
cabin,  reading  and  resting  all  the  day.  At  supper  many  were 
absent  because  of  the  hard  storm.  October  31st  was  Sunday. 
I  arose  quite  early  as  I  hoped  to  see  the  coast  of  Italy,  and  be¬ 
hold,  there  was  the  mountainous  coast  range  to  the  right  of  the 
ship,  when  I  came  upon  the  deck.  It  was  Calabria,  or  that  part 
of  Italy  which  we  usually  call  the  toe  of  the  Italian  boot.  This 
country  looked  to  be  very  barren  and  desolate.  There  were  no 
trees  and  along  the  shore  there  were  certain  villas,  small  cities 
and  orchards.  To  the  left  we  saw  the  island  of  Sicily,  an  equally 
barren  and  desolate  mountainous  region,  with  the  volcano,  Aetna. 
This  mountain  is  quite  near  the  coast,  and  in  the  early  morning 


[  480  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


hour  its  top  was  concealed  in  a  white  cloud.  We  are  now  going 
through  the  Messina  Sound. 

Here  the  Apostle  Paul  sailed  along,  having  suffered  ship¬ 
wreck  outside  of  Malta,  and  landed  on  yonder  coast  of  Italy. 
To  the  right  we  see  Raegium,  where  Paul  landed  (Acts  28:13). 
The  farther  north  we  come  the  narrower  is  the  sound.  At  ten 
o’clock  in  the  forenoon  we  are  right  opposite  the  cities  which 
became  so  badly  ruined  during  the  devastating  earthquake  in 
these  sections.  The  sound  is  about  a  mile  wide.  We  can  clearly 
see  the  ruins  of  St.  Giovanni  and  Raegium.  Our  boat  anchored 
in  the  harbor  at  Messina.  Here  we  landed  so  as  to  be  able  to 
observe  the  terrible  desolation.  We  went  around  the  city,  and 
as  we  saw  the  ruins  there  were  two  things  that  surprised  me, 
namely,  the  total  destruction  by  the  earthquake  and  the  general 
Sunday  work.  We  could  see  no  difference  between  the  Lord’s 
day  and  a  week  day.  They  bought  and  sold  as  they  would  do 
any  other  day;  out  on  the  street  they  were  working  very  dili¬ 
gently,  and  in  the  barber  shops  they  seemed  to  be  very  busy  also. 
No  wonder  that  the  punishment  came  with  such  a  devastation 
over  so  ungodly  a  generation.  But  the  punishment  did  not 
seem  to  have  exerted  any  influence  upon  the  people.  In  the  city 
there  were  150,000  inhabitants,  and  about  100,000  were  killed 
by  the  earthquake,  which  took  place  the  twenty-eighth  of  Decem¬ 
ber,  1908,  at  half  past  four  in  the  morning.  There  were  three 
hard  quakes  and  in  a  little  while  eighty  thousand  people  were 
killed.  To  describe  the  appearance  of  the  city  as  I  was  trying 
to  find  my  way  along  the  streets,  filled  with  ruins,  is  impossible 
for  me.  Nothing  has  been  done  to  restore  the  city,  because 
they  fear  that  if  they  commence  to  stir  the  ruins  before  the 
bodies  have  become  decayed,  they  will  thereby  cause  pestilence. 
For  this  reason  they  are  delaying  the  repair  of  the  city. 

[481] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


A  passenger  on  the  Orione  told  me  that  two  girls,  one  seven 
and  the  other  ten  years  of  age,  were  saved  in  a  most  wonderful 
way.  As  the  houses  fell  over  them,  they  were  protected  by  some 
beams.  They  kept  alive  for  fifteen  days,  during  which  time 
they  sustained  themselves  with  oil  and  bread.  While  soldiers 
were  marching  along  the  Garibaldi  Street,  they  heard  the  cries 
of  the  children,  and  went  to  their  rescue.  It  is  wonderful  how 
God  protects  in  the  hour  of  danger.  At  five  o’clock  in  the 
evening  Orione  lifted  anchor  and  steamed  out  of  the  harbor  and 
along  the  sound.  At  half  past  six  we  passed  between  Scylla 
and  Charybdis.  Scylla  is  a  mountain  ridge  which  extends  from 
Calabria,  and  this  is  surrounded  with  a  great  many  dangerous 
cliffs.  Charybdis  is  a  whirlpool  opposite  this  rocky  point,  and 
located  towards  the  coast  of  Sicily.  This  was  a  very  dangerous 
pass  to  sail  through,  especially  when  small  vessels  were  used. 
The  expression  “between  Scylla  and  Charybdis”  signifies  the 
difficulty  of  passing  through  a  place  where  there  are  dangers 
on  both  sides.  I  expected  to  see  the  Lighthouse  of  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean,  Stromboli,  on  the  Lipari  Islands,  but  as  the  evening 
was  somewhat  foggy,  I  missed  this  “play  of  nature.”  The  next 
morning  I  came  up  on  the  deck  very  early  to  observe  the  Italian 
coast.  There  is  a  certain  romantic  atmosphere  over  this  country. 
The  coast  is  mountainous  and  barren.  For  some  time  before 
we  entered  the  harbor  of  Naples  we  saw  the  island  of  Capri, 
where  the  Emperor  Tiberius  used  to  stay  occasionally.  We  saw 
Vesuvius  as  we  were  far  out  at  sea,  and  beheld  a  pillar  of  smoke 
ascending  from  its  crater.  The  harbor  of  Naples  is  very  beauti¬ 
ful.  It  was  easy  to  get  through  the  custom  house,  and  then  we 
went  to  the  Hotel  Metropol  &  Ville.  We  are  at  Naples,  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  cities  of  Italy.  We  felt  that  we  had  come 
quite  a  distance  on  our  way  home.  In  the  neighborhood  of 

[  482  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Naples  there  are  two  cities  which  I  wished  to  see,  and  they  were 
Pompeii  and  Puteoli. 

The  very  first  day  at  Naples  I  found  out  that  Mustapha  Faid 
had  spoken  the  truth,  and  that  the  “people  at  Naples  are  a 
wicked  generation.”  At  the  wharf  I  engaged  a  man  to  bring 
my  baggage  to  the  railroad  station,  where  I  intended  to  place  it 
in  the  baggage  room  and  have  it  checked,  but  the  rascal  did  not 
wish  to  bring  it  over  to  the  station,  and  so  he  brought  it  to 
another  place  to  have  it  weighed.  What  his  object  was  in  doing 
that  I  could  not  understand.  I  could  not  make  him  bring  my 
baggage  to  the  station,  so  I  paid  him  and  brought  it  over  there 
myself.  Several  times  I  saw  that  you  have  a  crooked  generation 
to  deal  with  when  you  come  to  Naples.  During  the  limited  time 
at  Naples  I  wished  to  see  as  much  as  possible,  and  so  I  went 
up  on  the  heights  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  city.  Here  you 
have  a  most  excellent  view  of  the  whole  surroundings.  Yonder 
is  the  volcano,  Vesuvius;  on  its  top  is  a  cloud  and  through  this 
a  pillar  of  smoke  is  rising  towards  the  sky.  All  along  the  sides 
of  the  mountain  there  are  vineyards  and  orchards  and  a  great 
many  houses.  It  is  surprising  that  they  have  dared  to  build 
their  homes  on  such  a  dangerous  ground,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  this  volcano  is  apt  to  have  an  eruption  any  time.  Below 
us  is  the  Bay  of  Naples,  where  ships  from  all  parts  of  the  earth 
are  coming  and  going.  In  the  distance  we  see  high  mountain 
ranges  and  along  the  valleys  there  are  villages  and  smaller  cities. 
In  the  afternoon  of  the  second  of  November  we  visited  the 
museum,  and  found  quite  a  few  things  of  interest.  The  statues 
from  the  early  history  of  the  country  are  very  interesting.  Here 
are  a  great  many  things  to  be  seen  from  Pompeii.  Among  other 
objects  of  interest  there  are  loaves  of  bread  which  have  been 
found  in  the  baking  ovens  of  that  place.  This  certainly  ought 

[483] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 

to  be  very  stale,  as  it  is  about  two  thousand  years  old.  It  looked 
very  black. 

In  this  museum  there  is  a  certain  chamber  called  Camara 
Seer  eta,  the  Secret  Chamber.  Here  we  find  objects  so  hideous,  so 
fearful  that  it  makes  a  person  shudder  to  look  at  them.  It  is 
well  that  children  are  not  admitted  into  this  chamber.  If  these 
statues  and  figures  are  a  reflex  of  the  public  and  private  life 
of  Pompeii,  the  moral  condition  of  the  people  must  have  been 
fearful.  Unchastity  must  have  been  their  bosom  sin.  The  pic¬ 
tures  manifest  such  a  depravity  that  it  is  beyond  belief,  and  a 
person  shudders  at  the  sight  of  them.  I  could  not  stay  very 
long  in  this  place.  My  visit  to  this  chamber  was  very  instructive 
as  to  the  moral  condition  in  Italy  about  two  thousand  years  ago, 
and  these  object  lessons  prove  conclusively  the  great  need  of  a 
Redeemer  from  sin  and  vice. 

The  museum  at  Naples  is  very  interesting  as  a  whole.  From 
this  place  we  traveled  around  in  the  stores  to  find  out  how 
they  are  doing  business  in  this  part  of  Italy.  Here  I  saw  for 
the  first  time  the  so-called  ‘  ‘  galleria,  ’  ’  streets  covered  with  glass. 
It  was  a  great  pleasure  to  walk  around  in  these  places.  In  a 
way  they  remind  me  of  the  bazaars  of  the  Orient.  Here  they 
sell  everything  you  might  want. 

Naples  is  a  very  beautiful  city.  The  saying,  “See  Naples 
and  die,  is  a  strong  expression,  and  yet  there  is  something 
in  it.  The  parks  are  very  attractive,  and  the  marble  statues 
and  monuments  add  to  the  beauty.  The  balmy  air  which  breathes 
against  us  everywhere  reminds  me  that  we  are  in  a  southern 
land.  Here  we  find  many  old  churches  and  schools  from  the 
Middle  Ages,  but  our  time  does  not  permit  us  to  visit  them. 
M^e  must  make  excursions  to  some  interesting  places  outside  of 
the  city  of  Naples;  we  have  reference  to  Puteoli  and  Pompeii. 


[484] 


il 


Chapter  XXVIII 
POMPEII  AND  PUTEOLI 

THE  third  of  November  I  made  the  excursion  to  Pompeii. 

We  went  down  to  the  station  and  by  railroad  to  this  most 
interesting  place.  The  road  passes  around  the  volcano  Vesuvius. 
Here  we  saw  streams  of  lava,  which  at  the  last  eruption  flowed 
down  the  sides  of  the  mountain.  Pompeii  is  located  on  the 
southeastern  side  of  the  volcano.  We  came  to  the  ancient  city 
in  a  comparatively  short  time,  bought  tickets  and  began  our 
walk  along  the  streets  in  the  “City  of  the  Dead.”  I  have  read 
somewhat  about  this  very  interesting  place,  and  now  I  have  the 
pleasure  of  walking  along  the  streets  and  seeing  these  remarkable 
ruins. 

The  reader  is  familiar  with  the  fact  that  Pompeii  and  Her¬ 
culaneum  were  destroyed  in  the  year  79  A.  D.,  during  a  severe 
outbreak  of  the  volcano.  If  it  were  not  for  the  fact  that  many 
antiquities  have  been  preserved  for  posterity,  Pompeii  would 
not  have  the  fame  which  now  rests  upon  it.  The  volcano,  located 
so  near,  and  which  had  been  slumbering  for  centuries,  began  all 
of  a  sudden  to  throw  fire  and  lava,  burying  these  cities  under 
debris  and  ashes.  It  was  in  this  eruption  that  Plinius  the  Older 
lost  his  life  near  this  dangerous  place.  The  cities  were  covered 
with  from  eighteen  to  twenty  feet  of  ashes,  lava  and  volcanic 
stones,  which  the  Italians  call  “lapilli.  ”  Pompeii  and  Her¬ 
culaneum  became,  so  to  speak,  lost  to  the  world.  No  one  seemed 
to  know  where  they  were  located,  and  orchards  and  vineyards 
were  planted  over  them.  In  the  year  1748  a  man  who  was  digging 

[  485  J 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


a  well  happened  to  find  a  house,  and  this  gave  occasion  to  com¬ 
mence  the  excavation.  In  1755  this  work  of  unearthing  the  city 
began  with  all  earnestness,  and  now  the  greater  part  of  the 
city  is  uncovered.  It  is  about  a  mile  wide  and  just  about  the 
same  length.  The  streets  are  about  twenty  feet  wide,  sometimes 
even  twelve,  and  this  includes  the  sidewalks  on  both  sides.  The 
streets  are  paved  with  large  lava  stones.  In  these  we  find  the 
wheel  tracks  along  the  streets,  and  this  gives  us  an  idea  of  the 
width  between  the  carriage  wheels.  In  the  nature  of  the  case 
these  streets  are  of  very  great  interest  to  the  tourist.  Here  we  get 
an  idea  also  as  to  how  the  ancient  Italians  lived.  Among  the 
various  streets  you  find  the  living  houses  of  the  rich  and  the 
poor  as  well.  Here  we  see  bathhouses,  factories,  bakeries  and 
ovens  in  good  shape.  In  these  they  have  found  bread  and  fried 
meat,  etc.  Here  you  learn  how  they  built  their  houses  and  how 
they  decorated  them.  Some  of  the  homes  were  very  well  deco¬ 
rated.  In  some  of  the  houses  there  are  such  hideous  looking 
paintings  on  the  walls  that  they  make  almost  anyone  shudder 
at  the  sight.  Here  we  saw  their  waterworks,  the  theater,  the 
forum  and  bathing  places,  the  Isis  temple  and  the  courthouse, 
etc.,  etc.  At  the  southeast  end  of  the  excavated  place  there  is 
a  museum,  and  here  they  have  placed  the  things  which  they  have 
found,  such  as  jars,  instruments  and  furniture,  etc.  Here  you 
see  dead  bodies,  which  they  found  on  the  streets  and  in  the  build¬ 
ings.  In  their  faces  we  can  almost  read  how  they  felt  in  their 
agony,  when  the  death-dealing  volcano  poured  out  ashes  and 
lava  on  their  city.  But  these  bodies  are  nothing  else  than  stucco¬ 
work,  and  they  have  secured  them  in  the  following  way :  When 
the  ashes  and  lava  together  with  the  water  fell  down  it  formed 
a  kind  of  dough,  which  placed  itself  very  closely  to  the  bodies, 
filling  every  crevice.  During  the  course  of  time  the  bodies  were 
decayed  and  cavities  were  formed,  showing  the  crevices  of  the 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


clothes  and  the  expression  of  the  faces.  Whenever  the  ex¬ 
cavators  came  to  such  a  cavity  they  poured  a  thin  mixture  of 
plaster  of  paris  into  the  cavity;  and  when  this  mixture  became 
hard  it  looked  just  like  the  body,  which  at  one  time  was  lodged 
in  this  cavity.  We  saw  a  great  many  such  “bodies.”  A  visit 
to  this  ruin  is  highly  interesting.  Here  we  are  reminded  how 
suddenly  the  judgment  of  the  Lord  came  upon  this  city.  They 
knew  nothing  of  the  danger  until  the  stream  of  lava  came  down 
and  destroyed  their  city  and  killed  its  citizens.  Let  us  at  this 
time  recall  the  words  of  the  Master,  ‘  ‘  Be  ye  therefore  ready  also : 
for  the  Son  of  man  cometh  at  an  hour  when  ye  think  not” 
(Luke  12:40). 

Having  seen  all  there  was  to  be  seen  in  this  ruin,  we  went 
to  a  hotel  and  took  dinner,  and  then  returned  to  Naples  by  the 
very  same  way  we  had  come.  There  was  a  thick  fog  on  the  top 
of  the  mountain,  and  we  did  not  wish  to  ascend ;  and  even  if  we 
had  gone  up,  we  could  not  have  seen  the  vicinity  around  the 
volcano.  We  spent  the  rest  of  the  day  in  observing  some  inter¬ 
esting  sights  in  the  city  of  Naples. 

Another  day  we  went  out  to  see  Puteoli,  and  we  took  the 
street  car  to  that  place.  Within  an  hour  we  were  there.  Puteoli, 
or  as  it  is  now  called  Puzzuoli,  has  28,000  inhabitants,  is  located 
near  a  bay  north  of  Naples,  and  is  a  very  dirty  city.  Led  by  a 
guide  we  went  to  a  volcanic  crater  in  the  vicinity,  called  Piccolo 
Vesuvio,  or  the  Little  Vesuvius.  Here  we  walked  around  in  the 
crater  for  a  long  time,  and  listened  to  the  noise  of  the  water 
boiling  under  the  crust  which  we  were  walking  on.  Pillars  of 
smoke  and  steam  arose  here  and  there.  There  were  certain 
places  designated  where  we  could  go,  and  where  the  crust  was 
too  thin  there  was  a  rope  strung  around  the  dangerous  places. 
On  the  east  side  of  the  crater  is  a  cave  or  grotto,  and  it  is  claimed 
that  the  Emperor  of  Rome  came  here  to  be  cured  from  rheuma- 

[487] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


tism.  We  went  into  this  cave,  but  the  sulphur  steam  was  so  hot 
that  we  could  not  stay  there  more  than  a  few  minutes.  It  was 
very  interesting  to  see  this  crater,  and  this  made  up  for  the 
disappointment  at  our  inability  to  see  the  crater  of  Vesuvius. 
This  volcano  has  destroyed  Puzzuoli  several  times.  The  city  is 
quite  near  the  crater.  During  the  journey  we  observed  with 
great  interest  the  romantic  bay  down  there.  Here  the  emperors 
of  Rome  used  to  live  in  villas  which  they  built  along  the  shore. 
The  scenery  is  very  grand  around  here. 

The  amphitheatre  is  very  near  and  it  is  still  in  good  shape. 
Here  many  a  Christian  has  been  thrown  before  the  wild  beasts, 
to  be  torn  to  pieces  and  thus  receive  the  crown  of  a  martyr. 
Down  in  the  valley  are  the  ruins  of  the  Serapeum  Temple.  The 
ruins  indicate  that  this  must  have  been  a  grand  structure  at 
some  time.  Near  by  is  the  place  where  Saint  Paul  is  said  to  have 
landed  on  his  way  to  Rome.  This  journey  he  made  about  the 
year  60  A.  D.  At  this  place,  right  by  the  wharf,  the  Catholics 
have  built  a  chapel.  Here  Paul  found  the  brethren,  who  asked 
him  to  remain  with  them,  and  here  he  staid  for  seven  days 
(Acts  28:14).  As  we  returned  from  this  excursion  we  observed 
some  very  beautiful  residences  along  the  shore  and  on  the  islands. 
Having  returned  to  Naples,  we  went  to  bed  very  early,  as  the 
following  day  would  find  us  on  the  way  to  Rome.  The  next 
morning  as  we  were  on  the  way  to  the  station,  it  rained  as  though 
the  windows  of  heaven  had  been  opened.  I  came  to  the  station 
in  time  and  boarded  the  train  for  the  “ Eternal  City.”  We 
passed  along  the  base  of  Vesuvius  and  then  in  a  northwesterly 
direction  through  valleys  and  along  the  hillsides  through  a  very 
picturesque  country.  About  noontime  we  saw  before  us  a  wfide, 
open  plain  and  mountains  in  the  distance;  on  yonder  plain  we 
see  the  glimpses  of  a  city.  It  is  Rome.  As  our  train  speeds 
along  we  see  towards  the  left  the  aqueduct  of  Claudius,  and  quite 

[488] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


a  pile  of  mins  along  its  course.  At  11 :45,  the  fourth  of  Novem¬ 
ber,  our  train  rolled  into  the  station  at  Rome.  Here  I  left  my 
baggage  at  the  railroad  station,  and  went  out  in  the  city  to  look 
up  a  hotel.  I  found  such  a  place  quite  near  the  station.  I  am 
now  in  the  city  of  the  ancient  Caesars. 


[  489  ] 


Chapter  XXIV 

IN  THE  ETERNAL  CITY,  ROME 


NOW  what  shall  we  say  about  this  city,  so  full  of  historical 
interest?  In  less  than  a  week  you  cannot  see  everything 
that  there  is  to  be  seen ;  but  the  tourist  gets  an  idea  of  the  most 
interesting  objects.  Here  is  the  city  of  the  popes,  and  here  is 
the  residence  of  these  bishops  of  the  Catholic  church.  Rome  is 
full  of  ruins  and  no  matter  where  you  go,  you  see  ruins  stick  out 
between  the  houses  and  around  the  temples.  But  where  shall  we 
go  first  of  all?  Let  us  go  to  St.  Peter’s  Church  on  the  north 
side  of  the  Tiber.  In  a  street  car  we  soon  reach  this  destination. 
In  a  short  time  we  see  the  immense  cupola  and  the  great  cross 
above  it.  Remember  we  are  in  the  city  of  the  popes.  Priests, 
dressed  in  black  garments,  are  walking  around  on  the  streets 
everywhere,  and  on  the  spires  of  the  churches  there  are  crosses. 
Even  the  old  pantheon  has  been  changed  to  a  sanctuary,  and 
on  the  roof  is  a  cross.  A  little  distance  from  St.  Peter’s  Church 
we  stepped  off  the  street  car  and  walked  towards  the  open  space, 
in  front  of  the  church.  In  the  middle  of  this  open  space  there  is 
an  obelisk  from  Egypt.  Here  we  have  the  Vatican,  near  the 
church,  to  the  right.  We  enter  this,  the  greatest  temple  in  the 
Catholic  world,  and  to  be  sure  this  is  a  most  imposing  sanctuary. 
I  shall  not  endeavor  to  describe  it,  but  this  much  I  wish  to  say, 
that  this  church  is  the  most  beautiful  edifice  that  I  saw  during 
my  journey.  I  went  in  here  often  to  admire  the  wonderful 
architecture,  the  beautiful  paintings,  the  adorned  altars,  and  the 
many  chapels.  Indeed,  Michael  Angelo  could  build!  Here  is 


[490] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


the  largest  church  in  the  world.  April  18th,  1506,  the  foundation 
was  laid  by  Pope  Julius  II.  Leo  X  gathered  money  for  this 
structure  by  the  sale  of  indulgences. 

As  we  enter  the  door  we  have  to  the  right  an  image  of 
Christine,  the  queen  of  Sweden,  who  left  her  faith  and  became  a 
Catholic.  Under  this  image  there  is  a  lengthy  writing  in  Latin, 
describing  how  she  was  adopted  in  the  Catholic  faith.  One  thing 
is  certain,  and  that  is,  that  Queen  Christine  was  very  capricious 
and  even  frivolous,  and  yet  she  has  been  placed  among  the  promi¬ 
nent  women  of  the  world, — for  what  reason  we  have  not  been 
able  to  determine.  “The  World’s  History  and  Its  Makers”  has 
a  great  deal  to  say  about  this  queen,  while  it  has  nothing  to 
relate  about  her  great  father,  Gustavus  Adolphus  II,  who  gave 
his  life  for  the  evangelical  truth  and  liberty  of  conscience.  He 
is  not  even  mentioned  in  this  work  of  history. 

Having  seen  this  church,  we  went  out  to  see  the  fortress,  St. 
Angelo.  This  building  has  its  history,  and  is  very  gloomy, 
indeed.  We  pass  by  this  building  on  the  bank  of  the  Tiber  and 
proceed  to  Monte  Pinco.  Here  a  band  of  music  played  very 
beautifully.  Then  darkness  set  in  and  thus  my  first  day  in  Rome 
was  ended.  The  following  day  we  saw  the  Royal  Palace.  The 
reader  may  know  that  the  Pope  and  the  King  of  Italy  are  not 
very  good  friends.  The  latter  has  deprived  the  former  of  his 
political  power,  and  now  the  Pope  is  a  “prisoner  in  the  Vatican.” 
We  also  saw  the  Capitol  Building,  St.  Andrew’s  Church,  the 
Jewish  Synagogue,  Marcellus’  Theatre  at  the  bridge,  the  Vesta 
Temple,  the  Protestant  cemetery,  the  Pyramid  at  the  St.  Paul 
Gate,  and  the  gate  of  St.  Sebastiano,  along  the  Via  Appia.  Re¬ 
turning  we  observed  the  bathhouse  of  Caracalla,  a  ghost-like 
building.  Then  we  came  to  the  Coliseum.  This  is  the  largest 
of  the  ancient  Roman  buildings.  The  Emperor  Vespasian  began 
to  build  it  in  the  year  72  A.  D.  This  is  also  called  the  Amphi- 


[491] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


theatre  of  Flavins.  On  the  site  where  the  Coliseum  is  built  a 
temple  was  erected  to  the  honor  of  Isis.  There  is  a  hill  here, 
once  called  Collis  Isaeum,  whence  we  have  Coliseum.  This  build¬ 
ing  had  four  stories,  and  these  are  very  well  preserved  to  the 
present  time.  Here  and  there  they  have  been  compelled  to 
repair  the  walls.  About  80,000  people  found  room  here  on  these 
galleries.  This  building  was  used  for  gladiatorial  combats,  and 
here  the  Christians  were  thrown  before  wild  animals.  In  the 
fourteenth  century  they  used  to  have  bull  fights  here,  and  at 
one  time  eighteen  persons  lost  their  lives  at  such  fights.  Because 
of  the  fact  that  a  certain  monk  by  the  name  of  Telemachus  at  one 
of  these  gladiatorial  combats  went  in  the  arena  to  separate  the 
contending  parties — and  at  this  time  was  killed  by  stoning  at 
the  hands  of  the  infuriated  public  in  the  Coliseum, — Honorius  IV 
forbade  such  combats  in  the  year  404. 

Near  the  Coliseum  is  the  Triumphal  Arch  of  Constantine. 
The  nation  erected  this  arch  to  commemorate  Constantine’s 
victory  over  Maxentius  and  Licinus.  This  arch  is  a  masterpiece 
and  one  of  the  most  beautiful  ever  produced  by  Roman  art. 
It  is  located  on  the  Via  Triomfale. 

As  we  are  so  near  the  palaces  of  the  Caesars  let  us  take  a 
look  at  them  for  awhile.  The  ruins  of  the  palaces  are  located 
near  by.  Here  we  can  form  an  idea  of  how  the  ancient  heathens 
lived.  The  rooms  are  decorated  very  beautifully,  and  you  will  no¬ 
tice  on  the  floors  very  well-preserved  mosaic  work.  On  the  wall  we 
see  paintings  and  paper  well  preserved.  Here  Nero,  Caligula, 
and  other  Caesars  have  lived,  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  their 
dark  ghosts  were  still  moving  around  in  these  ruined  buildings. 
On  the  north  side  of  these,  which  by  the  way  occupy  a  very 
great  tract,  is  the  Forum.  Here  you  find  a  number  of  pillars 
and  ruins  of  fallen  buildings.  Here  the  present-day  Romans 
have  carried  on  extensive  excavations,  and  now  the  tourist  may 

[  492  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 

walk  around  on  the  very  streets  the  old  Romans  used  to  walk  on 
and  gaze  at.  The  streets  are  in  a  very  good  condition.  At  the 
eastern  end  of  the  Forum  is  the  Triumphal  Arch  of  Titus.  This 
was  erected  to  the  honor  of  Titus,  because  of  his  victory  over  the 
Jews  in  the  year  70.  Inside  of  this  arch  you  will  still  notice 
how  the  Romans  carried  away  the  seven-armed  candlestick.  A 
little  farther  to  the  west  are  the  Pillars  of  Castor  and  Pullux 
Temple,  the  Temple  of  Augustus,  the  Senate  Building,  the  Tri¬ 
umphal  Arch  of  Septimus  Severus,  and  many  other  objects  of 
historical  significance.  Here  is  a  world  by  itself,  and  you  get 
a  good  idea  of  how  ancient  Rome  looked.  Near  the  Forum,  at 
the  northwestern  side,  is  the  Prison  of  Paul  and  Peter.  This  is 
a  miserable  place,  and  yet  it  may  be  possible  that  these  heroes 
were  incarcerated  here.  Here  in  this  city  they  suffered  martyr¬ 
dom  in  the  year  67  A.  D. 

While  we  are  in  Rome  we  must  see  the  Catacombs.  The 
6th  of  November  we  walked  out  there.  We  then  passed  by  the 
Coliseum,  and  along  the  Via  de  San  Gregorio,  the  old  Via  Tri- 
omfale,  and  a  little  farther  on  we  turned  into  a  street  which 
leads  us  through  the  St.  Sebastiano  Gate;  along  this  we  passed 
the  Circus  Maximus,  and  turned  to  the  left  to  see  St.  John’s 
Church.  The  Catholic  Pater  was  very  kind  in  showing  me  his 
beautiful  church.  To  the  right  of  the  street  we  find  the  tomb  of 
Scipio.  But  there  too  many  things  of  interest  to  note.  We  must 
But  there  are  too  many  things  of  interest  to  note.  We  must 
hurry  through  the  Sebastiano  Gate  and  proceed  along  the  Via 
Appia,  which  is  guarded  by  stone  walls  for  some  distance  outside 
the  city.  After  some  time  we  come  to  a  small  river,  Almone. 
A  little  farther  on  we  have  a  small  chapel  to  the  left  of  the  road, 
called  “Domine  Quo  Vadis?”  We  entered,  and  a  woman  met 
us  and  showed  us  around  in  the  chapel.  The  ancient  Via  Appia 
passed  along  where  this  chapel  is  located.  In  the  floor  we  see 

[493] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


the  masonic  work  of  the  old  street.  Here  they  have  placed  a 
stone,  which  is  an  exact  copy  of  the  one  which  the  Saviour  is 
said  to  have  stepped  on  and  left  a  mark  after  his  foot.  Here 
Jesus  is  supposed  to  have  met  Peter,  when  he  fled  from  his 
prison  in  the  city,  and  as  Peter  asked  him,  “Whither  are  you 
going ?”  (Domine  quo  vadis?)  Jesus  answered,  “To  suffer  death 
for  you  once  more.”  This  moved  the  disciple  so  that  he  went 
back  to  his  prison. 

Leaving  this  chapel,  we  have  still  a  good  distance  to  the 
Catacombs,  called  St.  Callisti.  This  is  to  the  right  of  the  road, 
and  the  entrance  is  in  a  certain  yard.  Here  we  found  a  monk, 
who  showed  us  the  way  down  among  the  Catacombs.  It  cost  us 
one  lira,  or  about  twenty  cents.  At  the  entrance  we  kindled  our 
lights,  and,  guided  by  the  monk,  we  went  through  these  sub¬ 
terranean  passages.  These  are  quite  small,  and  along  the  sides 
we  find  niches,  where  the  bodies  of  the  dead  were  placed.  Along 
these  passages  we  find  chapels,  where  religious  services  were  held. 
Some  of  these  niches  had  been  opened,  while  others  had  not  been 
disturbed.  In  others  we  saw  the  skeletons  of  the  arms  placed 
crosswise  on  the  breast.  On  the  walls  we  find  the  emblem  of  an 
anchor,  Jonah  in  the  ship,  the  fish,  the  Good  Shepherd,  etc.  One 
of  the  illustrations  represented  Jesus  performing  the  miracle 
with  the  bread.  In  another  we  saw  seven  men  sitting  at  a  table. 
“This  represents  the  seven  sacraments,”  said  the  guide.  We 
went  around  these  passages  for  a  long  time  and  saw  the  chapels. 
Some  of  them  were  very  well  painted.  In  one  of  these  niches 
I  saw  the  body  of  a  woman  in  a  coffin,  and  could  easily  see  the 
hair,  clothes,  and  the  skeleton.  In  another  of  these  places  I  saw 
a  skeleton  without  any  head,  and  the  monk  said,  “Perhaps  he 
was  beheaded.”  The  Callisti  Catacombs  are  so  long  and  com¬ 
prehensive  that  it  would  require  three  whole  days  to  see  them 
all.  Here  we  are  reminded  of  the  struggle  which  the  Christian 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


church  was  compelled  to  carry  on  in  the  earlier  centuries  of  its 
history.  Here  they  have  had  their  places  of  refuge  in  the  times 
when  the  heathen  raged  against  them  with  hellish  tyranny. 
Here  they  gathered  for  their  services;  here  they  prayed,  read 
the  word  of  God,  and  celebrated  the  Lord’s  Supper.  In  these 
niches  they  have  indicated  what  constituted  their  hope  in  life 
and  in  death.  With  a  moved  heart  I  walked  around  in  these 
Catacombs  and  thanked  the  Lord,  who  has  spared  us  from  such 
sufferings  as  they  had  to  endure.  As  we  came  out  of  these  tombs, 
I  asked  the  monk  if  it  was  far  to  the  Forum  Appii  and  Tres 
Tabernae.  He  became  somewhat  puzzled  and  did  not  know  what 
he  should  answer.  When  I  noticed  that  he  did  not  know  any¬ 
thing  about  these  Biblical  places,  I  turned  the  conversation  to 
some  other  subjects.  Then  I  walked  down  along  the  road  until 
I  came  to  St.  Sebastiano  Catacomb.  This  one  is  smaller  and 
not  so  much  visited  by  the  tourists.  Then  I  returned  to  the  city. 

The  following  day  was  Sunday.  A  Sunday  in  Rome !  Even 
in  this  city  things  were  done  on  the  Lord’s  day.  This  was,  to 
say  the  least,  surprising.  I  wished  to  attend  the  services  in 
some  church  and  went  to  one,  quite  near  my  hotel.  This  was  a 
very  beautiful  church.  Then  I  went  by  street  car  to  the  east  end 
of  the  city  to  see  the  St.  Agnes  Catacomb.  A  church  is  built 
over  the  opening.  Here  high  mass  was  celebrated.  I  asked  the 
monk  to  be  given  the  privilege  of  seeing  the  Catacomb,  and  he 
told  me  that  he  would  take  me  down  as  soon  as  the  mass  was 
over.  He  told  me  also  that  the  Catacomb  is  closed  during  Sun¬ 
days,  but  he  would  give  me  the  privilege  of  seeing  it,  inasmuch 
as  I  was  a  tourist.  I  followed  my  good  guide  through  these 
subterranean  ducts.  They  are  only  three  miles  long.  These 
Catacombs  are  in  the  main  like  the  others  I  had  seen. 

In  the  afternoon  I  went  to  the  Lateran  Church  in  the  south¬ 
eastern  part  of  the  city.  This  church  is  very  beautiful,  arid  here 

[495] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 

many  of  the  popes  are  buried.  Near  by  this  is  another  building, 
and  in  this  is  the  Scala  Sancta.  The  middle  stair  of  the  five 
is  the  broadest  and  has  twenty-eight  steps.  The  Catholics  tell  us 
that  this  belonged  to  the  house  of  Pilate  in  Jerusalem,  and  that 
Jesus  went  up  and  down  on  this  stair.  We  recollect  that  Luther 
endeavored  to  creep  up  this  stair,  when  these  words  resounded 
in  his  soul,  1 1  The  just  shall  live  by  faith.  ’  ’ 

We  must  see  the  Vatican.  At  ten  o’clock  in  the  forenoon 
I  went  there.  First  of  all  we  went  to  the  museum.  Here  we 
found  a  great  collection  of  statues  of  the  most  beautiful  kind. 
Into  this  place  the  popes  have  gathered,  during  the  course  of 
centuries,  statues  from  near  and  far.  This  is  one  of  the  best 
museums  I  have  visited.  Here  I  saw  the  Laccoon  group,  and 
a  she-wolf  who  gave  suck  to  two  children.  The  reader  is  familiar 
with  the  story  of  Romulus  and  Remus.  We  also  went  into  the 
library,  and  in  another  place  we  saw  the  chamber  of  Raphael. 
Here  we  found  an  immense  number  of  beautiful  paintings. 
The  painting  representing  the  last  judgment  is  very  remarkable, 
but  here  we  find  many  that  we  cannot  even  mention  them  all. 
From  the  balcony  in  this  building  we  look  down  into  the  orchard 
of  the  Pope.  A  visit  to  the  Vatican  is  worth  while;  there  are 
many  things  to  be  seen  here  which  you  will  not  see  anywhere 
else.  As  we  went  up  to  the  museum  we  came  to  the  main  door 
of  the  Vatican,  and  here  we  found  soldiers  guarding  the  entrance. 
This  reminded  us  very  much  of  a  royal  palace ;  and,  indeed,  the 
Pope  has  been  a  ruler  in  temporal  matters  as  well  until  Victor 
Emmanuel  deprived  him  of  his  scepter.  It  seemed  rather  strange 
that  the  Pope,  who  calls  himself  Servus  Servorum  Dei,  and  rep¬ 
resents  himself  to  be  the  representative  of  Christ  on  earth,  should 
live  in  such  splendor  and  pomp.  The  temporal  power  of  the 
Pope  is  broken,  though,  and  he  will  no  doubt  have  to  be  satisfied 
to  be  the  ruler  of  the  Catholic  church. 


[496] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Now  we  have  been  in  Rome  about  a  week  and  have  passed 
through  the  city  in  various  directions.  It  was  surely  interesting 
to  see  the  Eternal  City,  its  many  churches,  old  monuments,  and 
not  least,  the  many  obelisks  which  they  have  brought  hither 
from  Egypt  to  decorate  the  city  parks  and  other  public  places. 
To  be  able  to  see  Rome  we  should  have  had  at  least  three  months 
at  our  disposal,  but  we  shall  have  to  be  satisfied  with  what  we 
had  been  able  to  see  in  a  week. 

When  Doctor  Martin  Luther  visited  Rome,  he  found  very 
much  unbelief  and  superstition  among  high  and  low.  There  is 
a  great  deal  of  misery  in  Rome  as  yet,  and  unbelief  has  struck 
deep  roots  in  the  Eternal  City.  The  moral  condition  is  not 
any  better  here  than  anywhere  else.  Rome  has  governed  the 
world  for  centuries  in  the  past,  and  there  is  a  great  deal  of  the 
Roman  spirit  in  these  times.  May  the  liberating  gospel  be 
preached  in  its  truth  and  purity  even  here,  and  then  the  Son  of 
man  shall  make  the  people  free. 


[  497  ] 


Chapter  XXX 


IN  NORTHERN  ITALY 


HE  ninth  of  November,  about  midnight,  I  left  Rome  and 


I  went  to  northern  Italy.  When  I  bought  my  ticket  for 
Venice,  the  agent  tried  to  cheat  me,  but  he  did  not  succeed. 
Several  tourists  told  me  that  the  station  agents  in  Italy  are  very 
deceptive  when  selling  tickets  to  tourists.  As  we  are  leaving  1 
Rome  it  is  dark  and  we  are  not  able  to  observe  the  lay  of  the 
land.  The  farther  north  we  come,  the  colder  the  climate  grows. 
At  six  o’clock  in  the  morning  we  are  at  Florence  and  remain 
here  for  some  time.  This  is  a  very  beautiful  city,  and  is  located 
in  a  valley  surrounded  by  hills  and  mountains.  Along  this 
valley  flows  the  River  Arno,  and  on  its  banks  is  the  beautiful 
Florence.  Here  are  churches  and  schools  in  abundance,  and  I 
besides,  an  immense  collection  of  paintings.  The  citizen  of 
Florence  is  proud  of  his  city  and  its  history,  and  he  has  reason 
to  be.  Here  among  the  Apennines  the  Renaissance  struck  deep 
roots.  Here  is  its  cradle.  One  of  the  chief  citizens  was  Girolamo 
Savanorola,  a  Dominican  monk,  who  with  glowing  eloquence 
preached  against  sin  and  vice.  He  wished  to  establish  a  theo¬ 
cratic  state  according  to  the  Old  Testament  idea,  and  represented 
himself  as  a  leader  in  accordance  with  this  pattern.  The  Pope 
waged  a  war  against  him.  He  was  put  under  the  ban,  and  later 
on  burned  at  the  stake,  in  the  year  1498. 

Great  men  have  risen  here.  Let  us  remind  ourselves  of 
Dante,  the  man  who,  in  a  certain  sense,  may  be  called  the  creator 
of  the  Italian  language;  Galileo,  the  astronomer;  Giotti,  who 


[  498] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


has  been  styled  the  ‘  ‘  morning  star  of  the  Renaissance  ’  ’ ;  Amerigo 
Vespucci,  who,  because  of  his  description  of  the  New  World, 
gave  his  name  to  it,  and  last,  let  us  mention  Michael  Angelo. 
There  are  many  more  who  have  made  the  city  of  Florence  re¬ 
nowned.  Surely  you  have  a  beautiful  history,  Rose  of  Italian 
cities. 

Now  we  are  hastening  over  the  Apennines  and  come  to 
Bologna.  Here  I  changed  trains  and  boarded  the  one  which 
should  bring  me  to  Venice.  The  land  along  the  railroad  is  very 
even,  well  cultivated,  and  a  great  many  orchards  are  seen  along 
this  road.  We  are  now  in  the  fruitful  valley  of  the  River  Po. 
The  fog  hinders  us  from  seeing  very  far.  At  two  o  ’clock  we  are 
at  Venice.  It  was  something  unusual  to  see  a  city  surrounded 
by  water,  and  it  is  also  unique  in  its  character.  Directly  in 
front  of  the  station  is  a  great  lagoon,  and  here  we  must  go  into 
a  boat  to  reach  our  hotel.  As  we  are  going  along  the  lagoon, 
hundreds  of  gondolas  are  gliding  by,  and  there  stands  the 
man  with  an  oar  in  his  hand,  guiding  and  propelling  the  boat 
as  he  pleases.  Wherever  you  turn  you  see  water.  A  railroad 
bridge,  two  miles  long,  unites  the  city  with  the  mainland.  Here 
is  the  queen  of  the  sea  on  its  hundred  islands,  which  are  united 
by  four  hundred  and  fifty  bridges.  But  how  did  it  happen  that 
the  people  have  taken  their  refuge  upon  these  islands?  The 
answer  is  this:  While  the  barbarian  Huns,  under  Attila,  pushed 
forward  through  the  dark  forests  of  Germany  at  the  time  of  the 
great  migrations,  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  were  driven 
away,  and  they  had  to  seek  refuge  somewhere.  The  people  of 
Italy  in  this  part  of  the  country  fled  to  these  islands,  and  here 
they  felt  secure.  Here  they  found  refuge  and  built  a  city  whose 
history  has  been  full  of  vicissitudes. 

Leaving  my  baggage  at  the  station,  I  went  in  a  boat  to  the 
Hotel  Blanco.  I  had  never  seen  such  streets  before.  No  car- 


[499] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


riages  are  rolling  along,  and  everything  is  so  quiet.  Here  I 
must  look  around  as  much  as  time  will  permit,  and,  to  be  sure, 
there  are  many  objects  to  be  seen,  such  as  paintings,  statues,  and 
churches.  My  hotel  was  quite  near  a  building,  which  had  been 
a  palace  once  upon  a  time,  but  which  was  now  used  for  stores. 
It  was  an  immense  building.  Not  far  from  here  we  have  St. 
Mark’s  Church.  It  is  beautifully  decorated,  but  looks  somewhat 
antiquated.  From  this  place  I  went  to  the  bridge  called  Ponte 
Dei  Sospiri,  i.  e.,  Bridge  of  Sighs,  which  connects  the  court¬ 
house  with  the  prison.  Many  a  one  has  gone  from  the  judgment 
hall,  over  this  bridge,  to  his  death.  A  walk  along  the  shore  at 
this  place  is  very  interesting.  Here  we  find  how  the  people 
of  Venice  spend  their  time  and  how  they  take  life  easily.  Here 
they  sit  by  their  coffee  cup  or  some  other  cup  and  enjoy  life. 

The  following  morning  I  was  up  early  and  went  around  the 
city.  At  half  past  eight  I  boarded  the  train  and  went  along  the 
valley  of  the  Po.  Our  destination  was  Milan.  We  spent  the 
whole  day,  almost,  in  reaching  that  place.  In  the  afternoon  we 
came  to  a  beautiful  lake,  Lago  Garda,  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps. 
Most  of  the  time  we  saw  the  Alps  towards  the  north.  Along  the 
mountain  sides  we  saw  villages,  and  down  in  the  valleys  charming 
lakes,  which  in  a  remarkable  way  reflected  the  distant  mountain 
range.  On  the  mountain  tops  we  saw  fortresses  from  the  Middle 
Ages.  At  half  past  four  we  were  at  the  station  in  Milan.  Here 
I  stopped  at  the  Belleview  Hotel,  which  is  in  the  middle  of  the 
city,  and  quite  near  the  Cathedral  of  Milan.  I  wished  to  see 
as  many  of  the  sights  as  I  possibly  could,  for  Milan  is  a  great 
city  and  very  old.  It  is  built  on  a  very  fruitful  plain  which, 
when  you  look  at  it,  takes  the  aspect  of  an  orchard.  Around 
Milan  there  is  a  seven-mile-long  wall  and  this  is  almost  circular. 
Because  of  the  fact  that  the  city  was  in  the  way  of  the  migratory 
tribes  it  was  very  often  plundered  by  merciless  hands.  The 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Huns  came  here,  led  by  Attila,  and  captured  the  city  in  452,  by 
the  Herulians  under  Odoasser  in  476,  and  by  the  Goths  under 
Theodoric  in  493.  Here  the  fearless  Bishop  Ambrosius  (397) 
labored  so  diligently  for  the  propagation  of  Christ’s  Kingdom. 
This  man  was  born  at  Treves,  330,  and  educated  at  Rome.  Later 
on  he  became  governor  in  northern  Italy.  When  Bishop  Auxen- 
sius  died  a  conflict  arose  as  to  who  should  be  the  successor. 
Ambrosius  was  present  at  the  meeting,  called  to  establish  peace, 
and  here  he  asked  them  to  choose  a  bishop  in  all  humility.  While 
he  spoke  a  child  cried  out,  ‘  ‘  Let  Ambrosius  be  chosen  bishop !  ’  ’ 
And  he  was  chosen,  although  he  was  only  a  catechumen  at  that 
time,  and  was  not  even  baptized.  Shortly  after  this  he  was 
baptized,  eight  days  later  he  was  set  apart  as  a  bishop,  and  he 
was  a  most  excellent  bishop  for  the  flock  of  God. 

While  Emperor  Theodosius  massacred  seven  thousand  per¬ 
sons  in  Thessalonika  and  then  intended  to  attend  the  Lord’s 
Supper,  the  bishop  met  him  at  the  church  door  and  said,  “How 
can  you  life  up  your  hands  in  prayer,  while  they  are  yet  dripping 
with  the  blood  of  innocent  people?  How  can  you  with  such 
hands  receive  His  holy  body  ?  How  can  you  bring  to  your  mouth 
His  precious  blood  ?  Get  thee  away  from  here,  and  do  not  dare 
to  heap  crime  upon  crime.”  The  emperor  made  public  penance, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  Lord’s  Supper.  Not  long  after  this 
event  he  died  and  was  buried  here  at  Milan. 

But  we  must  enter  the  wonderful  cathedral,  the  renowned 
dome  church  at  Milan.  It  is  rather  gloomy  inside  and  more  so 
because  the  heavens  are  cloudy.  This  cathedral  was  founded  in 
1386  and  is  thus  a  work  of  the  Middle  Ages.  They  were  masters 
of  architecture  at  that  time.  The  style  is  rather  odd;  the  tower 
is  not  very  large,  but  a  great  many  smaller  turrets  are  scattered 
here  and  there  over  the  entire  roof.  Within  we  find  unmistak¬ 
able  evidence  of  saint  worship;  we  must  not  forget  that  we  are 

[501] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OP  PROMISE 


in  the  land  of  the  Pope.  Milan  is  also  a  center  for  the  beautiful 
arts  and  here  is  the  home  of  prominent  sculptors,  architects,  and 
paniters.  The  art  galleries  are  among  the  best  in  Italy,  and 
that  says  a  good  deal.  We  cannot  describe  all  the  sights  that 
we  saw  in  this  city,  and  shall  have  to  leave  and  prepare  to  depart 
for  a  colder  climate.  Here  we  are  amongst  green  orchards, 
beautiful  villages  and  cities,  picturesque  mountains,  charming 
valleys,  historic  temples,  museums,  libraries,  and  many  other 
objects  of  interest,  but  now  we  must  leave  all  these  things  to 
depart  northward  and  homeward. 


[  502  ] 


Chapter  XXXI 


OYER  THE  ALPS  TO  PARIS 

THE  seventh  of  November  found  me  at  the  station  in  Milan, 
and  twenty-five  minutes  later  we  were  on  the  train,  going 
northward  to  cross  the  Alps,  It  did  not  take  long  before  we 
reached  the  foothills  of  the  Alps.  Here  we  see  many  beautiful 
and  charming  lakes.  Soon  we  arrive  at  Como,  at  the  southern 
end  of  the  lake  on  whose  sides  romantic  mountains  extend  north¬ 
ward.  Along  these  mountain  sides  there  are  a  great  many 
attractive  villages.  The  name  of  the  lake  is  also  Como.  From 
here  we  come  in  a  little  while  to  Chiasso,  at  the  northern  boun¬ 
dary  of  Italy.  Here  Switzerland’s  collector  of  customs  looked 
through  our  baggage,  but  this  proved  to  be  very  easy  for  all 
concerned.  At  Bellizona  the  train  stops  long  enough  for  the 
passengers  to  take  dinner.  From  this  place  the  train  winds 
along  narrow  valleys.  Yonder  among  the  mountains  snow- 
capped  peaks  point  heavenward.  It  is  very  picturesque  here, 
and  no  wonder,  for  we  are  among  the  Alps.  I  have  passed  over 
and  along  many  high  mountains  on  my  journeys,  such  as  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  the  Cascades,  the  Alleghanies,  and  other 
mountains,  but  I  think  that  the  Alps  surpass  them  all  in  their 
picturesqueness  and  grandeur.  The  mountain  peaks  are  more 
pointed  and  the  valleys  are  particularly  inviting.  Along  the 
mountain  sides  we  notice  villages,  and  in  a  short  time  we  are  at 
the  southern  end  of  the  St.  Gotthard  Tunnel.  It  took  just  twenty 
minutes  to  pass  through  it.  On  the  southern  side  of  the  moun¬ 
tain,  just  as  we  entered  the  tunnel,  the  weather  was  very  beauti- 

[  503  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


ful  and  warm,  but  when  we  came  out  at  the  other  end  of  the 
tunnel  at  Goeschenen  a  fearful  storm  was  raging  among  the 
mountains.  This  tunnel  is  44,994  feet  long.  Our  train  passes 
through  one  tunnel  after  the  other,  and  late  in  the  afternoon 
we  arrive  at  Luzern.  We  are  now  in  the  heart,  so  to  speak,  of  the 
Alps  country,  Switzerland.  Here  we  see  some  of  the  most  beau¬ 
tiful  lakes  among  the  mountains,  and  I  am  not  at  all  surprised 
that  tourists  wish  to  live  here  among  these  picturesque  valleys, 
and  along  the  charming  lakes.  Late  in  the  evening  we  come  to 
Basel.  Here  I  saw  what  I  also  observed  at  Milan  and  Venice, 
how  the  representatives  of  the  various  hotels  were  lined  up  along 
a  certain  wall,  and  there  they  stood  still  and  said  nothing.  If 
you  wish  to  select  a  certain  hotel,  then  they  come  forth  and  give 
you  all  the  information  you  need.  A  gentlemanly  way,  indeed ! 
Here  I  left  my  baggage  at  the  station  and  went  up  into  the  city 
to  look"  around  and  take  supper.  In  Basel  I  did  not  stay  long. 
At  9  o’clock  in  the  evening  I  continued' my  journey  to  Paris. 

At  ten  o’clock  the  following  day  I  was  at  Paris,  at  Gare  de 
l’Est,  the  eastern  station  in  this  city,  and  here  I  registered  at 
Chemin  de  Fer,  a  hotel  near  the  station.  I  secured  a  map  of 
Paris,  and  with  the  help  of  this  I  went  around  to  the  interesting 
places.  Here  I  saw  the  Eiffel  Tower,  the  Louvre,  and  Notre 
Dame.  I  also  visited  the  noted  churches  in  this  city.  Above  the 
door  of  one  I  read  these  words,  4  ‘  Liberte,  egalite,  f raternite,  ’  ’  the 
same  words  that  we  find  on  the  French  money. 

I  went  to  Notre  Dame  at  the  time  when  they  celebrated 
mass.  Here  I  heard  the  beautiful  song,  and  looked  over  the 
cathedral,  both  within  and  without.  This  is  comparitively  small 
in  comparison  with  St.  Paul’s  in  London  and  St.  Peter’s  in  Rome. 
The  style  is  very  plain  and  attractive,  and  the  tourist  is  very 
well  impressed.  It  was  a  Sunday  when  I  was  there,  but  very 
few  attended  the  mass.  It  was.  quite  void  and  desolate  in  a  spir- 

[504] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


itual  sense.  Another  day  I  visited  the  Pantheon.  This  temple 
is  located  on  the  south  side  of  the  Seine.  Here  we  find  very  many 
beautiful  paintings  and  statues.  Here  I  saw,  among  other  pictures, 
a  painting  of  J oan  d-Arc  on  the  funeral  pyre.  From  here  we  went 
down  into  the  crypt.  Here  are  the  tombs  of  Rousseau,  Voltaire, 
and  some  of  the  presidents.  Here  are  the  remains  of  Victor 
Hugo.  As  far  as  the  decorations  were  concerned  it  looked  to  be 
very  poor  down  in  the  crypt.  And  why  would  it  be  necessary 
to  have  needless  decorations  here? 

Not  far  from  this  place  is  the  University,  and  I  went  there. 
Here  the  students  were  going  in  and  out  in  streams.  Near  by 
is  a  church,  and  I  must  see  it.  Here  is  the  burial  place  of  Saint 
Genevieve.  On  her  tomb  these  words  are  written,  “  Indulgence 
de  cinq  jours  a  ceaux  qui  reciteront  canq  Pater  Noster,  Ave 
Maria,  Gloria  Patri  devan t  le  tombeau  de  St.  Genevieve.”  (In¬ 
dulgence  for  five  days  to  those  who  recite  the  Lord’s  prayer,  Ave 
Maria,  Gloria  Patri  before  the  tomb  of  St.  Genevieve).  Here 
we  see  another  evidence  that  the  Catholic  church  still  believes 
in  indulgences. 

On  my  way  through  the  city  I  looked  into  the  Musee  de 
Luxemburg.  There  are  many  things  of  interest  to  be  seen  here, 
but  the  nudity  of  the  statues  is  somewhat  improper.  But  we 
must  go  to  the  Hotel  des  Invalides,  in  the  neighborhood  of  which 
the  remains  of  Napoleon  are  found.  Here  everything  is  grand 
and  magnificent.  In  this  edifice  you  find  a  cavity  in  a  circular 
form  on  the  floor,  and  down  at  the  bottom  of  this  the  coffin  is 
resting  on  a  pedestal.  Down  there  are  several  flags  bearing 
several  names,  such  as  Jena,  Friedland,  Marengo,  Austerlitz, 
Pyramids,  Rivoli,  Moscow  and  Wacram.  Farther  on  in  the 
chapel  there  is  a  cover,  which  is  supported  by  four  spiral-formed 
pillars,  and  behind  these  and  facing  the  chapel  we  read  these 
words,  “Je  desire  que  mes  cendres  reposent  sur  le  bords  de  la 

[  505  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Seine  a  melien  de  penple  Frangais,  qne  je  tant  aime”  (I  desire 
that  my  ashes  might  rest  on  the  banks  of  the  Seine,  among  the 
French  people,  which  I  love  so  much).  Napoleon  knew  how  to 
express  himself  so  as  to  be  understood  by  the  French  nation. 

As  you  wander  through  the  city  of  Paris  you  find  it  is  a 
very  beautiful  city.  Here  is  the  home  of  the  styles,  and  here  they 
determine  what  kind  of  clothes  the  ladies  shall  wear  throughout 
the  world.  In  Paris  we  would  need  months  to  be  able  to  see 
the  city  as  it  ought  to  be  seen.  But  time  does  not  permit,  so  we 
go  on  and  are  bound  for  home. 


[  506  ] 


Chapter  XXXII 


THE  JOURNEY  HOMEWARD 

LATE  in  the  evening,  the  16th  of  November,  I  stood  at  the 
Gare  de  l’Ouest  and  there  I  waited  patiently  for  the  de¬ 
parture  of  my  train  for  Cherbourg.  At  six  o  ’clock  the  following 
morning  I  was  there,  and  at  the  Hotel  Grand  du  Casino  I  waited 
for  my  steamer,  which  was  to  arrive  at  six  o  ’clock.  I  had  bought 
my  ticket  on  the  German  Lloyd  Line  steamer,  Printz  Friedrich 
Wilhelm.  Here  we  had  to  wait  till  eight  o’clock  before  the  ship 
arrived.  On  a  little  steamer  “Willkommen”  we  were  brought 
to  the  ocean  liner.  It  was  dark,  the  storm  was  roaring  quite 
hard,  and  the  great  monster  was  rolling  quite  a  good  deal  as  we 
were  boarding  it.  The  following  morning  we  saw,  towards  the 
right,  some  lighthouses,  which  shone  on  the  coast  of  England. 
Now  we  are  going  homeward  over  another  Ponte  dei  Sospiri, 
Bridge  of  Sighs.  We  have  a  very  desirable  company  on  the  boat. 
Most  of  them  are  Americans  who  are  homeward  bound. 

The  storm  is  raging  quite  severely  sometimes,  but  our  Printz 
breaks  through  the  billows  quite  easily.  Early  in  the  morning, 
the  21st  of  November,  while  the  passengers  were  sleeping  in 
their  cabins,  the  band  played  the  music  to  “Nearer  My  God  to 
Thee”  and  “All  Hail  to  Thee,  0  Blessed  Morn !”  It  was  beauti¬ 
ful  to  hear  the  sweet  tones  echo  over  the  boat,  while  the  storm 
was  raging  out  there  on  the  ocean.  The  choral  music  is  certainly 
very  beautiful.  It  was  a  greeting  from  the  true  home  country. 
In  the  morning  of  the  25th  of  November  we  were  near  the  Ameri¬ 
can  coast,  outside  of  New  York.  As  it  was  dark  we  anchored 

[  507  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


at  the  month  of  the  Hudson  River.  In  the  morning  our  boat 
brought  us  to  the  landing  place.  There  we  see  land,  our  beloved 
country.  There  is  no  country  under  the  sun  like  it.  It  is  beauti¬ 
ful  to  disembark  after  a  stormy  journey  here  on  earth.  How 
grand  shall  it  not  be  to  land  on  the  eternal  shores,  when  all  the 
storms  of  this  life  have  passed  away !  At  9 : 15  in  the  morning 
the  “Printz”  landed  us  at  the  wharf,  and  we  went  ashore.  Here 
we  had  to  show  our  baggage  to  the  customs  officers,  and  this  was 
the  most  careful  inspection  that  I  have  had  during  my  journey. 
The  servants  of  our  dear  Uncle  Sam  did  their  work  in  a  business¬ 
like  manner.  I  had  nothing  to  fear,  as  my  case  was  clear.  I  am 
afraid  that  some  had  something  on  their  conscience,  though. 

Here  we  left  our  fellow  travelers,  and  I  went  to  the  immi¬ 
grant  home,  where  I  was  very  kindly  received  by  the  super¬ 
intendent,  the  Rev.  A.  B.  Lilja.  Accompanied  by  him,  I  saw 
a  good  deal  of  our  greatest  city.  In  the  evening  I  left  New  York 
and  went  to  Niagara  Falls,  and  enjoyed  my  visit  there  immensely. 
From  here  I  went  to  Chicago,  and  thence  to  Minneapolis,  and 
home. 

My  journey  through  the  Bible  countries  was  ended,  my 
youthful  dream  to  see  the  Land  of  Promise  had  become  a  reality. 
With  a  kind  and  loving  hand  my  dear  Heavenly  Father  had  pro¬ 
tected  me  during  this  journey,  and  I  had  reason  to  return  my 
heartfelt  gratitude  for  his  goodness  and  mercy.  My  esteemed 
reader  has  followed  me  on  this  interesting  journey.  We  have  had 
occasion  to  look  into  the  condition  of  the  Land  of  Promise  par¬ 
ticularly.  We  have  spent  some  quiet  hours  in  Gethsemane,  we 
have  knelt  on  Golgotha,  and  in  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  On  the 
Mount  of  Olives  our  eyes  have  beheld  the  unique  surroundings, 
where  the  Son  of  Man  has  walked  with  his  blessed  feet.  We 
have  been  sitting  at  the  Well  of  Sychar  and  there  reminding 
ourselves  of  him  who  conversed  with  the  woman  of  Samaria; 

[  508] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


we  have  been  journeying  along  the  shores  of  Tiberias,  along  the 
pathways  where  the  blessed  Master  was  walking. 

The  land  of  Canaan  is  an  emblem  of  the  heavenly.  This  is 
our  goal  as  Christian  pilgrims,  and  longingly  we  look  towards 
that  goal.  From  the  storms  and  turmoil  of  life,  from  the  hot 
sands  of  the  desert,  the  pilgrim  is  longing  to  reach  his  destiny, 
the  Land  of  Promise.  My  feet  have  stood  in  the  gates  of  Jeru¬ 
salem.  In  the  ancient  times  pilgrims  journeyed  thither  to  cele¬ 
brate  festivities  in  honor  of  the  Lord,  and  still  great  throngs  of 
pilgrims  are  going  there,  that  they  may  make  these  sacred  places 
whisper  of  faith,  love,  and  hope.  God  grant  that  we,  having 
finished  our  pilgrimage  on  earth,  may  land  in  the  Canaan  of  the 
blessed,  where  we  shall  unite  with  the  great  throng  to  sing 
glory  to  the  Lamb.  During  our  toilsome  journey  towards  that 
goal,  the  lamp  of  God  shall  throw  its  light  upon  our  pathway, 
and  as  we  are  journeying,  we  shall  sing: 

“My  heart  is  yearning  ever 
To  reach  a  place  of  rest, 

Jerusalem, 

My  happy  home, 

In  thee  my  heart  shall  never 
By  sin  or  grief  be  pressed. 

My  heart  is  yearning  ever 
To  reach  that  city  blest. 

Behold  the  goal  in  glory, 

Now  shining  from  afar; 

Oh,  city  of 
The  God  of  love, 

Where  no  more  earthly  worry 
My  happiness  shall  mar! 


[  509  ] 


THROUGH  THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE 


Behold  the  goal  in  glory, 

Now  shining  from  afar ! 

And  even  I  shall  conquer 
In  Jesus’  name  and  might. 
Though  weak  and  faint, 
Still  as  a  saint, 

I’ll  in  the  haven  anchor, 
Sweet  haven  of  delight. 

Yea,  even  I  shall  conquer 
In  Jesus’  name  and  might.” 

{Finis) 


[510] 


s 


fee 


DS107  .3.M42 

Through  the  land  of  promise, 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1  1012  00022  8876 


